Brown Eyes, Gray Eyes
by dragon eyes3
Summary: Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are asigned together for a Care of Magical Creatures project. The problem is, they can't stand each other. Or they think they can't... (FINISHED)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

*********

It was a new year, and the great hall chattered endlessly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were among them, eating happily. 

"Another year," Hermione said cheerily. 

Ron sighed. "Yes. Too true."

"Aren't you happy?" Hermione asked. 

Ron glared at her. "No!"

"Well, ok," Hermione said. "You don't have to be like that… how about you, Harry?"

Harry grinned. "I'm away from the Dursleys, that's all that matters."

Hermione smiled at him. "See, Ron? You don't have to be so negative."

He glared at her.

"Ok, fine, I didn't say anything."

***

Hermione woke up the next morning in a very cheery mood. She loved the first days of new years. It was the most wonderful feeling to open her new books, smell their brand-new book scent, put her books in her backpack, wake up beside Parvarti and Lavender, seeing Hogwarts again, and even that nervous feeling that trickled down her back. That's the way Hermione was, and she couldn't help it.

She went down to breakfast, and found Harry and Ron there.

"Good morning!" she said happily, sitting down next to them.

"Morning," Ron mumbled, picking at his bacon. 

Hermione glanced at Harry. He shrugged. "Ron doesn't like the first mornings," he whispered.

Hermione nodded, and loaded her plate with mashed potatoes. "What do we have now?" she asked, seeing Harry was checking his time table.

He groaned. "Potions."

"Oh," she said sympathetically. "Don't worry, Harry. It won't be so bad."

He glared at her.

She shrugged. "Or maybe it will."

***

Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked towards the dungeons. The dark, twisting hallways were damp and chilly. When they came to the corridor outside potions class, they found a familiar scene: Slytherins leaning against one wall, Gryffindors leaning against the other. The members of each house glared at the members of the other house defiantly, as if daring each other to say something, or do something.

They walked ahead, and as they passed Draco Malfoy, he took out his wand and pointed it at Harry. "Accio glasses!" he whispered. 

Harry's glasses shot into the air and into Draco's hand.

"Give them back, Malfoy," Harry said, turning around and bumping into Ron.

"What? This?" Draco sneered, dangling the glasses between his fingers.

Pansy Parkinson giggled.

"_Now_," Hermione hissed, getting out her wand.

Draco smirked. "What will you do, Mudblood?"

Now Ron got out his wand, and pointed it at Draco.

Right at that moment, Snape came, and saw two Gryffindors pointing their wands at a Slytherin. 

He shook his head, smiling unpleasantly. "My, my," he said in a dead whisper. "What do we have here?"

Ron and Hermione lowered their wands. 

"Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape said, opening the classroom door.

The class poured in, and Draco threw Harry's glasses into the air. 

Harry caught them.

***

"Oily-haired git," Ron muttered, walking out of potions class. "Long-nosed toad, Big-headed-"

"_Ron_!" Hermione said.

"Twenty pages," Ron went on. "_Twenty pages_!"

"Yes Ron," Hermione said, sighing. "Twenty pages."

They walked out of the castle towards Hagrid's hut. It was Care of Magical Creatures next. 

It was a nice, sunny September day. A few clouds sailed in the air, making it a beautiful morning.

As they got closer to Hagrid's hut, they could see Hagrid smiling at them.

"Hi there!" he yelled.

"Hi Hagrid!" Harry yelled back.

When they got close enough, Hagrid bent down. "Got a surprise fer ye," he whispered.

"Oh no," Ron said. "Not that, please-"

"I'm sure the class will like it," Hagrid went on. "Ye'll see."

When the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins came, Hagrid started talking.

"Welcome ter a new year!" he said. "I got a surprise fer ye today!"

The class started muttering.

"Wait till ye see it!" Hagrid said. He bent down, and, from a box that was next to him, got what seemed to be a small, blue ball. He put it between his index finger and his thumb to show the class.

"Now this here is a Joggart egg," he said, beaming. "Can anyone tell me what a Joggart is?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air, as usual. "Joggarts are similar to Boggarts." she said with her usual tone of superiority. "Only, instead of turning into your worst nightmare, they turn into the thing you most like. Unlike Boggarts, though, they don't change automatically. You have to tickle them in the center of the black spot they have in their tummies."

"Very good," Hagrid said. "Ten points fer Gryffindor."

Hermione beamed with pleasure. Ron looked at her with an annoyed expression.

"The Joggarts will be smaller than this here egg," Hagrid went on. "But they'll grow in a few months. At first they won't have any black spot on their tummies, but it'll grow. Now, erm… it will change on the thing ye most like depending on yerselves. If yer liking for that thing is really powerful, then the Joggart will turn into it at their first tickle. If not, then ye'll have ter keep trying. They'll hatch in about a week. Any questions?"

Silence.

"Ok then," he got the box. "Joggarts are rare, they are. So's ye'll have ter work in pairs. One Joggart fer each pair. Oh, and ye'll have ter make a report about it. You know… write its progress, its changes, and everything. And ye'll also have ter find out what it eats. Now choose yer partner."

There was the usual scramble there is when a teacher tells you to choose a partner. Harry and Ron instantly chose each other. Hermione didn't mind. She was used to being left out when it came to pairs. She looked around to see if anyone was available. Everyone was calling out to each other. No one seemed to be alone.

"Hermione!" Hagrid yelled. "Come here!"

Hermione obediently walked towards Hagrid. He was standing next to Draco Malfoy.

"Do ye have a partner?" Hagrid asked her.

She shook her head, dreading the worst. 

"Malfoy here doesn't, either. Ye'll have ter work with him," he said, giving her an egg, and leaned over. "Do ye mind too much?" he whispered.

_Mind_? Did she _mind_?! Of course she _did_ mind! Hagrid was crazy to even _ask_.

She shook her head weakly. "No, I um… don't"

Hagrid beamed at her, and hit her on the back playfully, which sent her flying towards Draco, and just missing crashing into him by an inch. "That's the spirit!" and he left.

Now there were alone. 

Draco eyed her coldly. 

She looked at him helplessly. 

He just glared at her, as if she had something to do with being partners.

There was only silence, while everyone else talked.

What should she do?

She couldn't just stand here, not doing anything!

She finally smiled awkwardly. "So, um," she said. "Who keeps the egg?"

Draco stared at her without saying anything.

She shifted from one foot to another, and glanced at him.

He was still looking at her with his usual arrogant face.

"Well," Draco said.

She jumped a little. He had broken the silence so suddenly!

"Since you already touched it, mudblood, you keep it."

She glared at him. He still had his arrogant expression fixed on his face.

A bell rang in the castle.

"Tell me when it hatches," Draco said, and left.

***

Hermione spent all week looking at the Joggart egg. She kept it safely in one of her drawers, in a little bed she had made for it. Several times a day, she looked at it eagerly to see if it had hatched. But no luck.

Harry and Ron said she was obsessed with it.

"I am _not_!" she protested when they were talking about it in the common room.

"Hermione," Ron said. "You made a bed for it."

"So?" she asked defiantly "It may need to be comfortable, and-"

"I don't think it can _feel_ anything," Ron went on. "Since it's inside its shell!"

"How would you now?" Hermione asked. "You're not a Joggart!"

Ron laughed at this. "No," he said, still laughing. "I'm not a Joggart, am I?"

She looked at Harry, as if expecting him to say something to Ron. 

"Well, um…" Harry said. "Oh, come on, Hermione! It's a _Joggart_, not a mouse, or… or a baby!"

"Fine," she said, turning on her heel. "I suppose placing the egg under a bed, like _you_ have done, is much better, isn't it?" she slammed the door behind her.

***

Finally, two days after that last discussion, Hermione saw a little crack on the Joggart's egg. She squealed, got the egg, put it safely in her pocket, and ran out of the common room. 

She had to find Malfoy and tell him it was hatching!

But where could he be? She looked around the castle, opening doors, checking all the corridors. She even had the courage to ask some Slytherins of where he might be. But they refused to say. 

Finally, she found him in the last place she thought he could've been: The library. 

He was silently writing something on a piece of parchment, with a book by his side. 

Hermione walked over to him, and sat down on the chair next to his. 

He looked up and fixed his gray eyes into Hermione's brown ones. 

"Yes?" he asked.

Hermione took out the egg and placed it between them. "It's hatching," she said excitedly. 

He went back to his work. "Oh."

Hermione stared at him. Oh? How could he say Oh and then go back to his work? Wasn't it exciting for him? She was almost besides herself! She was about to see a Joggart hatch! 

She stared at it intently for the next few minutes. Finally, another crack appeared, this time bigger. After a few moments, one of the cracks opened, and some blue, soft hairs poked out.

Hermione glanced at Draco. He was still writing on his parchment.

A little black foot poked out next. Then she remembered. Hagrid had told them to write down the Joggart's progress! She didn't have any parchments or quills with her, but Draco had…

She cleared her throat. "Malfoy," she said. "Could I please have a piece of parchment and a quill?"

Draco looked up again with no expression on his face. "No, Granger," he said flatly. "You may _not_ borrow a parchment or a quill from me."

"But I need to write down the Joggart's progress!" she complained. "Hagrid said!"

He looked at the Joggart. "What progress is it making? It hatched. It's blue. The end," he drawled. 

Hermione looked at the Joggart. It _had _hatched! And it _was_ blue, with spiky, soft blue hairs. It had big, round eyes, ad it ended in two small black feet. The Joggart tried to walk, but fell flat on his face. Hermione giggled. It looked up at her, and blinked several times. She giggled some more.

Draco looked up. "Could you stop making that infernal noise, Granger?"

"What should we name it?" she asked, ignoring him.

Draco stared at her. "Name it?" 

"Yes," Hermione went on. "We should name it, don't you think?"

"It's a Joggart."

"Yes, it is," she said. "How about bluey?"

"We are _not_ naming a Joggart."

"Fine, Bluey it is," Hermione insisted. Then, she reached over and snatched a parchment and a quill from him.

"Granger!" he hissed. 

"Since _you're_ not doing anything about the report," Hermione said, writing down the Joggart's every move. "I'll do it."

Who did she think she was? A mudblook snatching a piece of parchment and a quill from a Malfoy! How dare she? He would've snatched them back, but she _was_ doing the report. It would be better for him, anyway. But he hated to loose a battle. He clenched his teeth and went on writing. 

Soon, Pansy came over. 

"Hi Draco!" she said cheerily. "Where were you? I looked _all over_ for you!" she glared at Hermione, who was still writing. "What's _she_ doing here?"

Draco ignored her. Damned girl! He couldn't take two steps without being followed by her. Pansy sat on the other chair at his side. "So, tell me, Draco," she said. "What are you doing this afternoon?"

He ignored her. 

Hermione stood up. "Done," she said happily, rolling up the parchment. "Here, Malfoy," she put the small Joggart in front of him. "Your turn to take care of it. Be here next week, same time. And find out what it eats," she added, walking away.

Draco stared after her. 

"What _are_ you doing this afternoon?" Pansy insisted.

Draco continued to ignore her.

***

The next day was potions again. 

"Five hours," Ron muttered as they headed towards the dungeons. "Five hours!"

"It took me four," Harry complained. 

"I did it in three," Hermione said proudly. "It was very easy. You could find so many information in the library. For instance, in _The Magical Guide to_-"

"Shut up," Ron said.

Hermione glared at him. "Fine!"

They went into the potions corridor to find the same scene as last week: Slytherins on one wall, Gryffindors on the other.

Draco watched as the trio walked by. Why did Granger leave him to take care of the stupid Joggart? It was extra homework for him! He'd return it to her next week at the library…

"Draco!" Pansy jumped next to him. "Did you do the homework?"

He clenched his teeth and didn't say anything.

Pansy giggled. "You don't have to be so cold, Draco,"

He watched as Hermione laughed with Potter and Weasley, condemning Parkinson. 

"Or maybe you _should_ be cold," Pansy added. "Your father probably likes it better that way. After all, you and I are growing up to follow the Dark Lord."

He didn't say anything. What she had said was true. His father wanted him to serve the Dark Lord, once he was of age. But lately he had been thinking about it, and he wasn't so sure if he wanted to do that…

Hermione laughed again. He glared at her.

Then Snape came, and the class started.

********

Did you like the first chapter?? Please review it!!


	2. chapter 2

Wow! 15 reviews!! Happiness ^_^ Thanks a million times to everyone who reviewed it!! You guys are great ^_^ I received one critical note, but that's ok. All critical comments are welcome! After all, if no one singles out my mistakes, how will I ever know them? It said that I made things go too fast. Yeah, I noticed that too, so I tried to improve on that field in this chapter. I hope I did ok. If I don't succeed the first time, I'll try again and again until I do ^_^

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary.

*****

Later that day, in the Slytherin common room, Draco observed the Joggart. It was a small thing, and he thought it looked quite pathetic as it tumbled down after a failed attempt to walk.

Draco stared at it. 

The Joggart blinked up at him innocently. 

_And find out what it eats_, Granger's voice echoed in his head. 

He clenched his teeth, and got up from the chair he was sitting on. He would show Granger! By next week, he'd know what the Joggart liked, and what he despised. He would show the mudblood that the Malfoys were smart… and quick. 

Draco went up the stairs to his dormitory, and searched through his wardrobe. Between some potions ingredients and some cloaks, there were still a few pieces of his weekly ration of home-made sweets. He got a piece from each of the varieties, and went down to the common room again. 

He sat in front of the Joggart, and handed it a piece of cake. 

Then a problem came up: the Joggart didn't seem to have a mouth. It didn't have any arms to take it from Draco's fingers, either. 

Draco glared at it, as if both Granger and the Joggart were trying to make him seem like an idiot. He put the piece of cake on the table, in front of it. The Joggart looked from the cake to Draco, and then back again. 

"Look here," Draco said. "You have to eat."

Blink.

"_Eat_."

Blink, blink.

Frustrated, Draco stood up. He had to make the blasted thing eat! He had to show Granger he could do a project, too! 

He thought it over.

Of course he could do it. He could do it _better_ than Granger.

He sat back down. The Joggart was examining the cake.

Pansy jumped next to him. "Hi!" she said merrily. 

Draco became very interested in the piece of cake. 

"Oh," Pansy said. "Are you working with your Joggart? They're cute, aren't they?"

With the chocolate swirls, and cream puffs.

"Are you trying to get it to eat?" she asked, suddenly spotting the cake. "I figured out how they will eat."

That caught Draco's attention. He looked up at her. "How?"

Pansy blushed. "It's very simple, actually. You see, Joggarts are very shy at first, when they don't know their owners. You have to leave them alone for a while, and they'll devoir anything."

Without a word, Draco stood up, and sat at the other end of the room, on one of the couches. Pansy sat next to him. 

They watched as the Joggart stood still for a moment, and then looked from left to right. Then, a little mouth appeared behind all that fuzzy hair, and it started eating. 

Draco watched the small creature as it went all around the treat, eating it slowly. He smirked. He'd done it! Next week, he would walk into the library and know what the Joggart ate, and just because of his amazing-

_Damn._

It had been Parkinson who had told him!

He stared furiously at her. 

"What?" she asked innocently. 

Without saying a word, he stood up and strode over to the Joggart. He took it, and went up to his dormitory. There, he put it inside a box. 

"And stay there," he hissed.

***

Hermione sort of regretted having given the Joggart to Draco. She would've liked to see it on its first week of life. See how it moved, what it did, what it ate, how it improved… but Draco had to do something, too. In the meantime, she observed Ron and Harry's Joggart. It was blue, too, but darker. A sort of navy color. Its feet were gray, and not black. 

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Look, it's walking!" 

Harry and Ron came over. 

"Look at little Navy!" Hermione said. "It's-"

"_Why_," Ron demanded. "Did you just call that Joggart Navy?"

"_Because_," Hermione explained. "His name is Navy."

Ron stared at her. "Since when?"

Hermione shrugged. "Since I named him this afternoon."

"You named a Joggart?" Harry asked blankly. 

"Yes," Hermione answered. 

Ron shook his head, as he watched 'Navy' taking his first steps. 

"Right, well," Harry said, getting a parchment and a quill. "I guess we should write its progress."

Ron sat down next to Harry. "Navy," he muttered. "Naming a Joggart…"

Hermione was getting furious. "You named a rat," she reminded him. 

"So?" he asked defiantly. "A rat and a Joggart differ a whole deal!"

"Oh, really?" Hermione asked. "Why? They're both creatures, aren't they?"

Ron didn't seem to know what to say. "Besides, Scabbers wasn't a rat. He was Peter!" 

"You thought it was a rat," Hermione insisted. 

"Ok," Harry said, getting up. "Hermione, you named a Joggart. Ron, you named a rat. You're even. Can we all keep on living peacefully now?"

Ron shook his head. "She also named a cat."

Harry sighed and sat down again. "Right. Hermione, you named two living creatures. Ron, you named one. Happy now?"

"No," Hermione answered. Then she turned towards the couches, where Crookshanks was sitting. 

"Crookshanks!" she called.

"No, don't call him!" Ron exclaimed. "That cat is evil, he is."

Crookshanks came slowly, purring. Hermione tickled him behind his ears. "Ron wants to play with you," she said. 

"No I don't!" Ron protested. "Hermione, you better get that thing away from me!"

Hermione laughed. "Ok, Ron," she said, getting the ginger cat in her arms. "No need to get so mad."

Still chuckling, she went into her dormitory. 

***

_Ok_, Hermione told herself, _Calm down. If Malfoy gets too rude, just say some smart comment, or ignore him. _

Taking a deep breath, she entered the library. There was Draco, sitting, with Bluey in front of him.

Hermione approached him, and sat down next to him. "Hi," she said cheerily. 

"Hello," was the reply.

Hermione looked at Bluey. She petted it. "I missed you," she told it. 

"It's your turn to keep it this week, Granger," Draco said with an arrogant face. 

"Yes," Hermione said happily. "It is, isn't it?"

Draco didn't say anything.

"Well, we better start noting down its progress, shouldn't we?" Hermione asked, getting out a quill and a parchment. "And I brought my own materials, Malfoy," she added.

"Right," Draco said. 

"So," Hermione said, glancing at Bluey. "What changes has it made?"

"None,"

"It has got to have made _some_ changes," 

"Only a week has passed, Granger."

She sighed. "I guess you're right."

Draco looked at her. That's it? There wasn't going to be any argument? Had she surrendered so easily? 

She slumped back in her chair. 

The truth was, it _had_ made some changes. Not big, but it had made _some_. For example, it could now walk. And it ate. Wasn't Granger going to ask anymore? 

"It walks now," Draco said, finally. 

"Really?" Hermione asked excitedly. 

"Yes," Draco drawled. "And it eats."

"What does it eat?" Hermione asked, scribbling down. 

"Anything."

"Anything?"

"Yes, Granger, anything."

"Is that it?" she asked, when she was finished writing. 

"Why don't you see for yourself, Granger?" Draco asked nastily. "I could be doing better things than talking with a mudblood."

She glared at him. "Yes, and I could be doing _much_ better things than talking with a Malfoy."

Now _he _glared at her.

Hermione was getting mad. She was just trying not to loose her head! And here he was, acting so nastily._ Fine_, she thought, _you want it that way? You'll have it that way._

She continued writing, looking at the Joggart every once in a while. It wobbled its body and blinked. She was trying to figure out _how_ it ate, since it didn't seem to have a mouth. She looked harder at it. Malfoy had said it ate, and to eat, it had to have a mouth… right? But she didn't see any! And she couldn't write it had one if she wasn't sure. She would make a fool out of herself if it wasn't true! But where was it?

Furious, she glanced at Draco, meeting his gray eyes. "Does it have a mouth?" she asked silently. 

Draco smirked. He could see Hermione was getting angry. Perfect.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" he asked again.

There was a mad glint in her eyes now. "_I can't see any mouth_," she hissed.

His smirk widened. He was winning. She was getting angry. And he loved it. He knew something she didn't.

"Check again," he said.

For one wild moment, Hermione considered getting him round the neck and demanding an answer. 

But she didn't, of course.

So she checked again. She didn't see anything! She got Bluey and turned him around. Where was it?

Draco watched, amused. The Joggart didn't seem to show its mouth except when it ate. He wouldn't tell her. At least, not now. She was pretty funny, turning the Joggart round and round. Finally, she stopped, and stabbed her brown eyes, burning with anger, into his cold gray ones. "_Where is it?_"

He continued to smirk.

She waited. The clock at the back of the library ticked, mixing with the silent murmur of the students. A cough here, a giggle there. Minutes passed, and still that smirk stood firm in place.

She stood up furiously, dropping some parchments. "Fine!" she said as loud as she dared. "You know what, Malfoy? _You_ can do the report! Since you know so much, and don't have time to spend with mudbloods like me, you can do a perfect report!" 

She snatched the Joggart and ran away.

After she had gone, Draco picked up the parchments she had dropped, and the report she had been writing, which she had left there.

He would do the report gladly. He would do it better than Granger. The only problem was, she had taken the Joggart with her.

***

"Self-centered git," Ron muttered.

Hermione had just told him and Harry about the library that had previously taken place in the library. Ron had taken it pretty badly. 

"It's a group project!" he exclaimed. "He has to help, too!"

"True," said Harry, watching the fire. 

"I would've loved to smear that grin off his face," Ron said. "Too bad I wasn't there."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, that would've been good."

Hermione patted Bluey, which was on her lap.

Ron was silent for a minute. "Hermione," he said cautiously. Hermione was still angry, he could see. And when she was angry, she was also dangerous. "How, may I ask, will Draco do the report if you have the Joggart?"

Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but shut it again.

Damn! 

How _would_ he do the report without the Joggart? He couldn't! 

He was probably laughing at her now, with his two stupid sidekicks, saying, "Granger walked out furiously, and told me to do the report. But guess what? I don't have the Joggart, _she_ does!" 

Well… she would give it to him tomorrow! It was decided. She wasn't going to make a fool of herself.

"Hermione," Harry said. "Could you help me with the Transfiguration essay?"

***

The next day in Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid looked at everyone's Joggart. He was very pleased with some of them, but very displeased with others. For instance, Neville's. 

"By Golly!" he exclaimed. "What'd you feed it?"

Neville looked up at him, shaking from head to toe. "Chicken, and some liver. Plus rice."

Hagrid got the Joggart, and Hermione saw why he was so angry. The Joggart was larger than he was tall. Twice as his height. 

"Don't feed it so much!" Hagrid exclaimed. "They'll get too fat, like this one here, an' their magic ain't too great if they're as fat as that!"

He gave the Joggart back to Neville, who nodded.

Hermione was standing next to Draco. They weren't talking or making eye contact. They just stood. 

Hagrid came over to them, and smiled at Hermione. "An' how is yer Joggart?" he asked.

Hermione handed it to him. "Perfect!" he said, beaming. "Keep treating it like that, and yer Joggart will be happy."

He left.

Hermione turned to Draco, frowning. "Here," she said, handing the Joggart to him.

Draco looked at it. "No," 

Hermione stared at him. "Yes."

"No, Granger. It's your turn to take care of it."

"You have to do the report."

"No, I don't," he answered.

"If it wasn't for you," Hermione hissed. "It would be done by now."

"It's your turn, Granger."

Hermione suddenly thought something. "You _don't_ know if it has a mouth, do you?"

Draco glared at her. "Of course I do."

Hermione smiled cruelly. "No, you don't. You never saw it eating, did you?"

He continued to glare. Damn Granger! How dare she question a Malfoy's knowing? He stood there, looking at her icily, while she smiled innocently. He clenched his teeth. "Leave it alone for a while, and it will eat."

A bell rang in the castle. 

Hermione continued to smile, but now with an evil glint in her eyes. 

She had won. And he hated her for it.

"Thanks," she said coolly, and joined Harry and Ron.

*****

Did you like it?? Please review!!


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for all the reviews ^_^ I love you guys. Yayness :D I'll try to name you each individually, but at the time I don't have time, so please forgive… also, I might start naming the chapters (Naming is not my thing) but, again, when I have time. I have lots of tests and homework.. L 

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary.

*******

That evening, Hermione tried what Draco had told her to do. She got Bluey and set it on the table, where it blinked up at her. Then, she put some chicken she had saved from dinner in front of it, and hid behind a pillar. 

Ron, who was playing wizard chess with Harry, stared blankly at her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

She rose a finger to her mouth, signaling him to quiet. Draco didn't say she had to be quiet, but she wanted to, just in case. 

Ron stared from her to the Joggart, shrugged, and continued playing.

Hermione looked at the soft, blue creature. It was circling the chicken wing. Then, making sure no one was looking, it revealed a tiny mouth, and started eating it.

Hermione smiled inwardly. 

"How did you figure it out?" Ron asked, coming next to her.

"We never got ours to eat!" Harry said.

"Malfoy told me," Hermione answered.

Both boys stared at her.

"Malfoy _told_ you?" Harry asked in utter surprise.

Hermione shrugged. "Yes."

"Whoa," Ron said. "What'd you do to him? Torture?"

Hermione shrugged again. "I 'questioned a Malfoy's knowing,'"

Harry and Ron laughed out loud. "Yeah, no wonder he spilled the beans." Ron said.

"I don't know how you do it, Hermione," Harry said. "But you know how to handle a lot of situations."

She grinned.

***

The next day, in Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall gave the slytherins and Gryffindors some work:

"See the blocks of cement in front of you?" she asked pointlessly, since the big, gray squares were blocking everyone's view. 

"You must transfigure them into a star-shaped ice cube." 

Ron's mouth hung open. A star-shaped ice cube? Was she crazy?

"Any questions?"

Silence. 

"Then start."

Ron looked at the huge square on his desk. "There is no way," he said. "I can do it."

Harry smiled at him weakly. "Come on, Ron, it…" he looked at his cement block, and gulped. "It won't be so bad."

"It's really quite simple," Hermione said with and air of superiority. 

Ron gave her a murderous look. She shrugged. "It's just transforming the shape and the material. At least we don't have to transfigure something dead into something alive!"

"Right," said Ron, looking back at the gray square, and pointing his wand at it. "Then, since it's _so_ easy, I'll try it."

But before he could do anything, Neville yelled loudly, and everyone roared with laughter. Hermione turned around, and gasped as she looked at Neville. Instead of transforming the cement block, he had turned his _nose_ into a star-shaped ice cube.

"Oh, Neville," she groaned. "Not again."

Ron was laughing hysterically, not making the slightest effort to be polite. Hermione whacked him round the head. "Don't laugh," 

He glared at her, rubbing his head. "What'd you do that for?"

Professor McGonagall sighed. "Someone please take Mr. Longbottom to the Hospital Wing."

Neville sneezed.

"I'll take him, Professor!" Hermione volunteered. She walked over to the sneezing boy. "Come on, Neville," 

They both left the class.

Draco, who was also in transfiguration with the Gryffindors, continued to chuckle. Longbottom! What and idiot!

Pansy was giggling next to him. "Pretty funny, isn't it?" 

He immediately stopped chuckling. Why did Parkinson have to sit next to him? All she ever did was talk to him, which made all the classes very annoying. He focused on his cement block again. 

Soon after, Hermione walked in again.

"Did Madam Pomfrey say anything?" Professor McGonagall asked. 

"She said Neville will have a cold for ages," Hermione answered. 

Everyone laughed again. Hermione took her seat, and, in a few moments, she had a perfect star-shaped ice cube in front of her. McGonagall smiled, and awarded ten points to Gryffindor. 

Ron gaped at her. "Don't know how you do it," he muttered, "but you always end up being perfect in every teacher's eyes." 

Hermione's shoulders sagged a little. "Yes, I do."

She hated when Ron said that. It made her sound like an angel, a teacher's pet, a model student. And maybe she _was_ all those things, but, sometimes, she felt foolish.

Draco looked at Hermione. There she was, showing off again. And meanwhile, he hadn't even scratched his cement block. How could a mudblood be better than him? He hated to admit it, but it was true. She always got top marks at everything, while he didn't. How did she do it? 

Then, she looked up, right into his eyes. He didn't do anything, didn't show the slightest bit of emotion. He expected her to wave and smile, or to do something of the sort, but, to his surprise, she frowned and turned away. 

He smirked. 

She was mad at him. 

Excellent.

***

Two days later, Harry and Ron tried to feed their Joggart. 

"Why haven't you done this _before_?" Hermione asked as they both hid behind a pillar.

"_Because_," Ron whispered. "We forgot."

Hermione snorted, and then muttered something about careless boys. 

"You also forget things," Harry reminded her.

"Well, that's odd," Hermione said.

"Odd? Excuse us, but-"

"I mean, Ron, _that's_," she pointed her finger towards the Joggart. "Odd."

Both boys looked at where she was pointing, and their mouths hung open. Their Joggart had opened its mouth to the size of half its body, and it was eating quickly. It didn't seem to be shy at all, either, since some first years had surrounded it, looking at it curiously. 

"Scram!" Ron yelled, pointing his fist at the first years. 

"_Ron_!" Hermione hissed. 

The first years left, looking at him half scared, half angrily. 

"Navy isn't shy at all!" Hermione said. "And did you see the way it eats? It takes huge bites out of-"

"_Don't call him Navy_!" Ron exclaimed. 

He walked over to the Joggart. It didn't seem to mind though, because it kept on eating frantically. 

"He must be hungry," Harry said, coming next to him. 

"Congratulations," Hermione said with sarcasm. "You have just won the prize for stating the obvious."

Ron glared at her.

"You haven't fed it for two weeks," she pointed out.

Ron shrugged. "True."

Harry slumped on the couch. Ron, after watching the Joggart some more, got out his favorite game. "Wizard chess, anyone?"

***

Hermione ran into the library, huffing and puffing. She scanned it for Draco, and finally found him sitting on a chair, playing with his hands on the table.

She sat next to him. 

"You're late."

"I forgot to take some parchments and a quill," she said, breathing fast. She got Bluey out of her pocket and set it on the table. It wobbled and took a few steps, blinking up at them, and examined Draco's hands. 

"It's grown about an inch," Draco drawled.

"Yes, it has," Hermione said, laying out her parchments and starting to write. She had barely started to write a few sentences, though, when she heard Madam Pince shriek. She looked up. 

Madam Pince was pointing a trembling finger at Bluey. "What is that- that- _thing_ doing here?"

Draco looked at Hermione.

"It's a project for Care of-"

"Get it out! OUT!" Madam Pince got Hermione up by one arm, and told her to get that 'Thing out of here, creatures are not allowed!'

Hermione hastily stuffed her parchments and her quill in her pocket, and ran out with the Joggart. Draco followed her slowly. 

"Right," Draco said. "That was interesting." 

"It was _not_ interesting." Hermione looked around. "Where can we work on it now?"

Draco simply looked at her. 

She wasn't surprised, of course. She looked around, but didn't any suitable place. She sighed. 

"Outside," Draco suggested. 

"Outside? Where? Under a tree?" she asked. 

"Yes, Granger. Somewhere outside."

"How about Hagrid's hut?" she asked. "I'm sure he would-"

"I am not entering that oaf's house."

Hermione glared at him. She gave up eventually, of course, since he didn't show the slightest bit of feelings or emotions. 

"Right," she muttered. "Outside it is."

Draco and Hermione stepped outside. It was a bit cloudy, and the grass was wet because of previous rain. 

For now they would have to sit on one of the rocks by the lake. 

Hermione smoothened the parchments again and set them on the rock. She shivered, and wrapped her cloak around herself. Then she started writing, while silence filled the air around Draco and her. Bluey walked on the rock, tumbling now and then. 

Draco got it, and finally said something. "It's heavier." 

"I fed it," Hermione reminded him. 

"Small claws are growing on its toes,"

"Really?" she asked, coming for a closer look.

He showed her. 

"That's right! I never would've noticed!" she continued writing. 

Draco was somewhat amazed. If it would've been him, he would have _never_ admitted that he wouldn't have noticed. But Granger was different. She seemed so innocent and cheerful. And she tried to be nice, no matter how nasty he was to her. Or how nasty he _tried_ to be to her. Sometimes her cheerfulness was contagious. 

"It's growing quickly," she said, looking at him. "Do you think we should meet more than just once a week?"

He didn't say anything.

"How about twice a week? If Bluey keeps this pace up, then we'll probably miss a lot of details."

"All right, Granger. I have better things to do than to hang around with you, but I want to get good marks," he added. 

"Ok," she said, wrote some more, and stood up. "It's your turn to keep Bluey. Feed it well."

They headed for the castle together. 

When they entered the usual silent corridors, they could quickly tell something was up. There was a mass of students, apparently reading a paper pasted on the wall. Draco and Hermione went over to them. 

"What's it say?" Hermione asked.

Draco fought through the mass of people struggling to read the paper, and cut to the front of the wild group unnoticed. Then he came out with not so much as a hair messed up, with an arrogant face. "There's going to be a masquerade at Halloween."

"What?" Hermione asked in amazement.

"A masquerade, Granger. It's a ball where you have to wear masks!"

"I know that!" she said. "But, really? Here? In Hogwarts?"

Draco was getting annoyed. "Yes. Here. In Hogwarts. And it's going to have a Medieval theme. On a ship Dumbledore will bring to the lake. And It'll be two days long. Clear?"

"Yes," Hermione answered. "This will be interesting."

"I have to go now, Granger," Draco said, and left. 

Hermione went up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. A masquerade… it sounded like fun. And a Medieval theme! With medieval clothes, and maybe classic music! And on a ship! It sounded interesting. The only problem was that she probably wouldn't have a date. 

******

Liked it? Review please!!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

Several people have asked me the same question: Have you made up the Joggarts? The answer, lol: Yes, I have. I was just doodling with my pen and suddenly I had this cute, round, creature looking up at me *blink, blink* so I thought they'd be cute ^_^

Ok, thanks to: kristatwen, hyper-shark, hermione18, demonwitch666, rubberducks, dracoNmione, fiery-chan , magicstardrops, dragon-soul, freak like me, alquamor, deisseida, calani, Vegeta Jr , Ladyknight, gliniel of tirragen, Queen Li, Nefer Tawa, The Adorable Kitten Fluffy, Mara Potter, Jamtilldawn, Dracoluva99 , kagami, darcel, spider web of faith, silver lime, f0xyness39, sucker for romance, not sure yet, kelzery, lady of Slytherin, draco lover, happy little Rin-chan, Veronica*James, Wind Elf, danapotter, lanjelin-lover for reviewing!! 

I hope I didn't miss anyone… Oh, and thanks silver lime for telling me that I don't accept anonymous reviews!! I didn't notice!! But now I do ^_^. 

Oh, and I KNOW that a masquerade is NOT such a creative idea, but… it's my first fan fiction, so you'll have to bear with me, OK? Lol.

********

Thinking over this, she entered the Gryffindor common room, where Harry and Ron were slumped on the couch, talking about quidditch. 

She joined them, sitting in the arm chair next to them. The boys were so wrapped up in their conversation, though, that Hermione had to clear her throat loudly to get their attention. Harry and Ron turned their heads around slowly towards her. 

"There's going to be a Halloween masquerade," she informed them.

Ron's mouth dropped open. "Masquerade?" 

Harry, who was still thinking about a tragedy to defeat Slytherin, was brought back to earth. His reaction was pretty much like Hermione's. "Here? In Hogwarts?"

And her answer was like Draco's. "Yes, here, in Hogwarts."

Ron was still looking at her as if someone had told him pigs _could_ fly. 

She shrugged. 

Ron went pale, and looked into the fire. "_Who_ will I ask?" 

Harry smiled weakly at him. "I, um… Ron? Who _will _you ask?" he turned and looked into the fire, too. "Who will _I_ ask?"

After a moment of silence, Ron said, "You asked Parvarti last year… and she had an awful time. No offence," he added, seeing the murderous look on Harry's face. "But. Well… she didn't exactly have fun. And… well, Harry, I don't think you have any problems, being Harry Potter and all. I bet girls would queue to go with you. But, me? I'm not popular, or… or anything! I don't think any girl would go out with me…"

"So they'd queue to go with me because I'm Harry Potter?" Harry said, outraged. "Do you think being popular-"

"Well, while you discuss about your social problems," Hermione said briefly, getting up. "I'll see what your Joggart is up to, shall I?"

She went into the boys' dormitories, not bothering to knock. 

"Hermione!" Sean yelled. He didn't have his shirt on, and had been about to pull his pants off.

"Hey, Sean," Hermione said, waving lazily. She walked over to the window next to Harry's bed, and peeked inside a little box that was on top of the windowsill, where Navy blinked up at her.

"It's not Christmas, Hermione," Sean said. "Why are you invading our dormitory?"

"Because," she answered. "I wanted to see Navy." 

She touched Navy gently, getting his navy hairs between her fingers.

"Oh," Sean said, shrugging. "Ok then. I mind being you around and everything, but, considering I'm half naked and it's cold, I would like to keep on dressing myself, if that's alright."

Hermione sighed, and nodded. "See you," she said before closing the door behind her. 

The truth was, she had left Harry and Ron because it bothered her to think about the masquerade. She wouldn't have a date, that was for sure. Krum had dumped her last summer, after all. Not that she cared. She had always thought he was a duck-footed idiot anyway. Sort of. But she wanted to go with someone! If everyone had dates, and she didn't… Oh well. She didn't have to go. It was just a silly dance, after all. Nothing special. She could use that time to read a book. 

Sighing, she entered her dormitory.

***

The next day in breakfast, Harry and Ron were still discussing over the same subject as yesterday's. 

"I just don't know who I can ask!" Ron exclaimed, irritated. He was poking at his bacon stubbornly. 

Harry shook his head. "Me neither."

Hermione was annoyed. It was the only thing the boys had been talking about since she told them about the masquerade! Eating her bacon, she said, "What if you don't ask anyone?"

Ron stared at her, a string of chicken dangling on his fork. 

She shrugged. "Well, it _is_ a masked ball! No one has to know who you are!"

"Should I try Cho again this year?" Harry asked, ignoring Hermione. 

Hermione snorted. "And get dumped for, what, the eleventh time?"

Harry glared at her. 

She sighed. "Ok, sorry. That was mean."

"Maybe you're hanging out with Malfoy too much," Ron said after drinking his orange juice. "And you're becoming obnoxious and mean like him."

Hermione slammed her fork on the table, furious. "I am _not_!"

Neville, who was sitting across from her, trembled a bit. He was always careful not to get Hermione angry, because she could be fierce, wild, and, most importantly, scary. 

Harry continued to ignore both Ron and Hermione, even if he was sitting in the middle, and had already seen a piece of bacon fly by, going towards Hermione. 

"So maybe I _will_ ask her out," he continued.

Hermione leaned around Harry and poked Ron with her fork. "How about if we talk about something else?"

Ron clenched his teeth, and threw another piece of bacon at her.

"Why don't you try Eloise Midgen?" Hermione suggested with sarcasm. "After all, she'll be wearing a mask!"

"Cho _might_ say yes, what do you think?" Harry asked.

"I think," Hermione said, getting up. "That I'm tired of hearing you."

And she left, leaving Harry and Ron staring at her open-mouthed. The truth was, she didn't know why she was in such a crabby mood. It was normal for Harry and Ron to talk about who they'd ask, but, somehow, it bothered her. Was it because she'd probably be the only girl without a date? And why should she care? She had never cared about things like that before… so why should she care now? 

Ignoring her own thoughts, she went into the library. 

***

Draco was standing at the entrance hall, hands in his pockets. He was looking at the ground. Hermione, who was going down the marble stairs, hurried to him. 

He looked up and met her eyes. "Hello, Granger," 

"Hi," she said, surprised he had even bothered to greet her. "Um. Where's Bluey?"

Draco took one of his hands out of his pocket, and dangled Bluey in front of her. She took it, and examined it.

"Well, you're heavier," she said to the creature, "And-"

"Can we do this outside?" Draco suggested, with an air of arrogance.

"Sure," Hermione answered, stepping into the cool day.

As they made their way towards a tree, a voice called out to them.

"Draco!!" someone yelled. "Wait for me!!"

Draco turned around, saw who it was, and clenched his teeth. Parkinson.

Hermione stopped to wait for her, but Draco continued walking. "Granger, don't just stand there," he hissed. 

Hermione ran next to him. "All right."

Pansy ran towards them, running rather like a chicken. She finally reached them, huffing and puffing. "Hi," she breathed.

Draco became very interested on the tree in front of them, getting closer and closer as they walked towards it. 

Pansy pushed Hermione aside, and went in the middle of them, looking up at Draco. 

"You haven't talked to me _all_ week!" she exclaimed. "Why?"

They reached the tree. Draco sat under it, and Hermione did the same. 

"And you're always with _her_," Pansy said, jerking her thumb at Hermione. 

Hermione didn't know what to do, so she played with the Joggart. Pansy was standing in front of Draco, glaring at him furiously. He looked up at her with no expression at all on his face. 

"Why didn't you talk to me?" she asked. "I even offered to help you with our Potions homework! And-" she sniffed. "You're always walking around with that- that- _mudblood_! It's as if you were _avoiding_ me, or something, and-"

"Would you," Draco said through clenched teeth. "Stop acting as if you were my girlfriend?"

Hermione looked away as she heard Pansy start sobbing. She didn't know what to do. Here was Pansy Parkinson crying in front of Draco Malfoy, obviously in love with him. And there was Draco Malfoy, giving her a cold no-expression look, which was kind of annoying. And there she was, rather disturbed by the whole thing.

"Fine!" Pansy shrieked. "I don't care if you- you- if you-" she was positively howling now. Unable to control herself, she ran off into the castle. 

There was a tense silence around them now. Draco didn't do anything, and Hermione didn't know _what_ to do, or what to say. She played with Bluey's fuzzy hairs. It blinked up at her.

"Poor Pansy," Hermione muttered. She didn't know Pansy at all. She knew that she was a bit… odd. But, well… she didn't know what to say, anyway.

Draco chuckled bitterly. "Poor?" he asked. "You should say poor _me_, Granger."

Hermione looked at him. "Why, exactly?"

"Because," he answered calmly. "That girl won't stop following me around wherever I go, won't stop looking at me, won't stop annoying me…"

"Because she's clearly in love with you!" Hermione blurted out. "You could at least try to be nice to her."

"No," Draco answered. "I'm sick and tired of that girl. I can't stand her. I just try to be alone, and there she is. I'm talking about _me_, how _I_ feel, not how _she_ feels. I don't care. She's really annoying, like you, Granger."

"Oh, quiet, Malfoy, you self-centered git!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I'm going to ignore that," he said calmly.

They stood in silence some more. Hermione was annoyed by his arrogance, and Draco was annoyed by her questions. Bluey blinked up at Hermione. Draco looked at the lake.

"So," Draco said, making her jump a bit. "Are you going to start writing, or not?"

"Oh," Hermione said, getting a parchment and a quill out of her pocket. "Right." She handed the Joggart back to Draco, who took it in his hands. "What has it done?"

"Blink," 

"How has it changed?" she tried next. 

"Well," Draco said, looking at the blinking creature. "It grew small teeth,"

"In three days?" Hermione asked in utter surprise. She reached out and got Bluey from Draco's hands. It blinked up at her again. She could see no mouth, of course, but she had a clue of where it was. She knew it was somewhere under its eyes. She tried to move aside all the hairs aside, but there were too many. "Hold still," she told Bluey, trying to see its mouth.

Draco watched Hermione with mild interest. She was struggling with the Joggart, turning it this way and that, trying to open its mouth. It was sort of funny. She looked up at him, and their eyes met again. 

"Could you try and open its mouth?" she asked him. "I want to see its teeth."

Draco was sort of shocked to see her asking him for help. She seemed so innocent, and so cheerful sometimes, like now. She was as excited as a child, asking him to open the Joggart's mouth, with her rosy cheeks and her eager brown eyes.

"Give it here, Granger," he heard himself saying.

"Thanks."

He took the Joggart, and did the same as Hermione had done. It didn't work, though. The Joggart was getting annoyed, blinking angrily up at him.

"Oh, fine," he said crossly, getting something out of his pocket. 

A quill. "Let's see if I can open it-"

"Don't!" Hermione yelled.

Too late. The Joggart had seen Draco's intentions, and had opened its mouth wide, revealing two teeth as thin and sharp as a needle. It bit him on the hand.

"Ow!" Draco cried out before he could stop himself. 

He felt a sharp pain going all the way from his hand to his arm, to his shoulder. He tried not to cry out in pain, he mustn't show weakness… but it hurt. He started shaking a bit from the pain, and looked up, clenching his teeth. 

"Malfoy!" Hermione screamed. "Your hand!"

He looked down at it. It was becoming a sort of sickening purplish color. 

Hermione stood up quickly, went over to him and, before he could stop her, she had thrown back the sleeves of his cloak. She examined the purplish color going towards his shoulder. 

"You have to go to the hospital wing!" she shrieked.

"Oh, no Granger," Draco said with deep sarcasm. "I'll just stay here and see what happens."

"Hurry!" Hermione cried. She took Bluey from Draco's legs and put it in her pocket, and watched as the silver haired boy tried to get up… and fell.

"Come _on_," she said, pulling him by his hand. "Get up!" 

With her help, Draco was able to get up, but threw her hand aside as soon as he did. Clutching his arm, he walked slowly towards the castle, with Hermione shrieking at him to hurry. 

"Who knows what that could be?" she asked frantically. "It could be poison! It could be-"

"Be _quiet_, Granger!" Draco snapped. "You are _not_ being helpful!"

Hermione looked up at him. "Fine, ok. But hurry!" 

Draco was surprised. After how cold he had been towards her, there she was, tugging at him, telling him to hurry, with such a worried look he almost felt bad about being so nasty to her. He _almost_ felt it, of course. 

They reached the castle, and made their way up the marble stairs, Hermione frantically telling him to 'Hurry, your hand's getting darker!'

When they reached the hospital wing, Hermione threw the door open, and called out to Madam Pomfrey. Draco stood at the door, waiting.

"Goodness!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed when she ripped off Draco's sleeve. Instead of being pale, his arm was completely black. She ran off into a closet, and came back out with a bottle of something. 

Dragging Draco to the nearest bed, she opened the bottle. "_Sit_," she ordered. 

Draco sat. Madam Pomfrey forced two spoonfuls of the strange, greenish liquid down Draco's throat, making him gag.

"This is horrible!" she exclaimed. "If you had waited longer, you may not be here now! How long did you wait to come to me? How did you get this- this black arm?"

A guilty tremble came from Hermione's pocket. She took bluey out. "This Joggart bit him."

Madam Pomfrey took a look at Bluey. "This?" she asked. Then she stood in silence for a minute, observing the Joggart. She stood up, and went to fetch something from the closet, mumbling about Hagrid Having To Do With This. 

Hermione looked at Draco. He still clutched his arm. "Does it hurt much?" she asked.

Draco looked up at her. "Not as much as before," he answered.

She smiled. For once, Draco hadn't used an arrogant tone. He had even been honest.

Madam Pomfrey came back with a spoonful made out of something gooey. "Right, well," she said, putting the spoon under bluey's nose. "I have to see those teeth."

Bluey opened his mouth wide, revealing his two sharp teeth. As soon as he ate the gooey substance, though, he could no longer close his mouth.

"Hmmm…" Madam Pomfrey said, checking blue's teeth. "I see. Interesting. Mm-hmmm…"

She turned to Draco. "Poison, boy," she informed him. "And pretty powerful, too. These here," she tapped Bluey's teeth with the spoon. "Are dangerous. And they'll be even more dangerous as they grow."

Hermione kept on looking at Draco. He was biting his bottom lip, clutching his arm, shaking.

"Anyway," Madam Pomfrey said, pushing Hermione aside. "You need to go. This boy needs to stay in for the day, until his arm is back to its normal color."

"I'll pass by here later on to see how you're doing," Hermione told Draco. "OK?"

He nodded.

"Bye,"

***

Ron snorted. "With a quill? Please! Even _Neville_ wouldn't do that!"

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's not funny! Malfoy could've died!"

"Pity," Ron said, shaking his head. "It would've made our lives easier if he had."

Hermione glared at him. They were in the common room, sitting on the best couches in front of the fire. It was already nine o'clock, and it was very cozy.

"Fine," Ron said. He cleared his throat, and took his hands to his face. "_Poor_ Malfoy!" he exclaimed overdramatically. "I _hope_ he won't die! Imagine if he _did_!" 

Harry laughed, looking at Ron over the quidditch book he was reading. 

Ron stood up, and knelt beside Harry. "We _must_ try and save him for his stupidity of trying to open a Joggart's mouth with a _quill_!"

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, we should."

Ron ran towards Hermione, who was glaring at him- hard. He patted her hand. "There, there, I'm sure the git will be ok. But," he sighed dramatically. "Those quills can sometimes-"

"Oh, stop it, Ron!" Hermione yelled, getting up.

Ron looked at her, surprised, as she made her way towards the portrait hole. 

"Where are you going?" Ron called after her. "I was only joking! Sort of…" 

"I'm going to see how Malfoy's doing," she answered, whirling around. "And don't tell me not to. Malfoy might be a bit nasty,"

"A bit?" Ron asked.

"But," she said ignoring him. "I want to see how he's doing." And she left.

*****

Finally, I got this chapter out!! Too much homework, too many tests… but I did it!!! Lol, hurray! Anyway, please review!! 


	5. Chapter 5

Some people asked me why Hermione was so mean in chapter four, so here's the answer, lol: She's irritated and annoyed. Even if she won't really admit it, she wants to go with someone to the ball, and being around Draco gets her angry. So, she's not mean, but annoyed. 

86 reviews!!! *Dances around happily* Thanks to: lanjelin-lover, Gliniel of Tirragen + Malfoy, f0xyness39, KeeperOfTheMoon, Ayosu, jupi, kar, lil-spitfire, liza, The Crimson Comet, dreamer, iloverwforever, starjade, chikata, hatokirei, KawaiiLunaKitty, UnworthyDragon, Chinese CuTiE4e, Draco Lover, hyper_shark, sher, JamTillDawn, Alison224, and Anegel Triton for reviewing!! 

******

Draco laid in bed, looking up at the ceiling of the Hospital Wing. The pain on his arm wasn't as great as before, and his arm was slowly recovering its normal color. 

Damn Granger! It was all her fault! If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be here now! If she hadn't looked up at him with those eager brown eyes, if she hadn't tried to be nice, he would've never tried to help her, and he wouldn't have ended up here. She made him want to be nice. It was as if she had some kind of strange power over him, making him unable to be too cold towards her, making him want to be good. He got a strange feeling when he was with her, as if he could just lay back and tell her anything. As if she understood him. And he hated her for it. 

He was still thinking over this, when Hermione walked into the Hospital Wing. 

"Ten minutes!" Madam Pomfrey hissed.

Hermione nodded, spotted Draco, and walked over to him. 

He sat up.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

"Hello, Granger," he said, glaring.

"I, um… how's your arm?" Hermione asked, carefully choosing her words. 

"Better," Draco answered simply.

"Can I see it?"

He took it out from under his sheets. It was a violet now, and his hand was back to its normal pale color. 

"I'm glad it's better," Hermione said, still smiling.

"Thank you," Draco answered. 

__

Well, Hermione thought, _at least he has manners._

There was a moment of silence. No one said anything, they just stood looking off into the distance. 

Hermione shifted from one foot to another, not knowing what to say. 

Draco glanced at her. She was being nice again. She had come only to see him, to see how he was doing. She had been worried about him. She had made him say 'Thank you' to her, made him want to be nice. He couldn't help it, when he was with her. 

"How's the Joggart?" Draco asked, finally.

"Oh," Hermione said, startled. "Bluey? He's fine. I fed him a bit."

"Well, hopefully it'll be satisfied with what you gave him. I wouldn't like it to try and bite my hand off again."

Hermione chuckled. "I think it's quite satisfied. Bloated, even."

Draco's eyes flicked upward again. He was making conversation with Granger. Great. Just what he needed next… conversation with a mudblood. First, that strange feeling. Now, conversation. 

Hermione searched for something in her pocket, and took out a small book. On its front, in golden letters, it read _Small and Short Stories for Sorcerers of all Sizes_'. wiping the dust off its cover, she gave it to Draco. 

"Here," she said. "I went to the library before coming by here. I thought you might be bored, so I brought a book." 

Draco took it and examined it. 

"Thank you," he said.

There it was again. He had thanked a mudblood, and accepted a book from her. He knew it was terrible, but, at the same time, he was amused. Granger had tried to help him with boredom the only way she knew… reading a book. He stopped himself from chuckling a bit just in time.

Hermione shrugged. "I didn't know what you would like reading, so I brought you a book of stories."

He just looked up at her blankly, and she shrugged again.

"Do you know when you'll be able to get out of here?" Hermione asked him.

He locked his gray eyes in her Brown ones. "Tomorrow, probably."

"Good, then we can work on the report about Bluey!"

"Slow down, Granger. I'm not going near that thing again."

"What? But we have to work on it together! It wouldn't be-"

Before she could finish her sentence, someone shoved her aside.

"Draco!" Pansy exclaimed shrilly. "I've been _so worried_!" she knelt down beside him, and took his arm. "Goodness! It's quite awful, isn't it? Does it hurt much?"

Draco pulled his arm away quickly, and glared at her. "Parkinson, get out."

Pansy whirled around and found Hermione, looking at both Slytherins and rubbing her arm where Pansy had hit it.

"_You_!" she shrieked. "What have you done to Draco? Why's he here? You probably gave him poison, or… or something!"

Hermione snorted. "Oh yeah, that's right, I poisoned Malfoy." she said sarcastically.

Pansy turned around again and looked at Draco intently. "She poisoned you? Tell Dumbledore!"

"Oh, for God's sake, Parkinson!" Draco said, frustrated. "She didn't poison me! And could you please get out now?"

Pansy stood looking at him for a minute, and then her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, I get it now. You don't want me here, huh?"

"Well spotted," Draco said coldly.

"You'd rather be with that Mudblood!" she yelled, pointing at Hermione. "How could you?" she gave a chocking sob. "I was so worried about you, and-"

She looked straight at Hermione. "It's all your fault!" she shrieked.

Draco hated to admit it, but he had to agreed with Pansy on that one. 

Hermione stood, paralyzed. She had a hysterical Slytherin yelling at her, in the middle of the quiet Hospital Wing. What should she do?

Pansy was wailing now. "What have you done to him? You've turned him into a mudblood lover!"

This made Draco angry. Mudblood lover? That was insulting! He clenched his teeth, but didn't say anything.

"What's all this noise?" Madam Pomfrey yelled, making noise herself. When she spotted Pansy and Hermione, she pointed at the door, "Out," she said in a deadly hiss.

"But Madam Pomfrey!" Pansy complained. "This girl has poisoned Draco!"

Draco surprised himself by defending Hermione. "She did _not_ poison me," he said. He didn't yell, didn't say it in an exasperated voice. Draco had a special gift of making himself heard without having to raise his voice.

"Of course she didn't," Madam Pomfrey said, waving her hand. She turned to both girls again. "Out!"

Pansy walked out, still teary-eyed and sobbing. 

Hermione turned to face Draco again at the door. "I hope you're better by tomorrow!" she called, and left. 

As soon as she did, she sighed with relief. Well! That had gone well! Taking out the Pansy thing, of course.

She had planned to be nice, taking the advantage that Draco was in the Hospital Wing. Maybe, if she was nice, she might somehow twist Draco's way of seeing her. But she knew it wasn't possible, of course. Draco seemed so cold, and unreachable. But it had gone alright. She had even _liked_ being nice to him. And he hadn't been cold towards her. Why, he had even thanked her! She smiled. Maybe things had improved between them. Maybe he wouldn't see her as a mud blood anymore.

No, that wasn't possible. But, at least he hadn't insulted her. That was a start. If they were to be partners at a project, she wanted to get along with him. Even if they had to pretend they liked each other a bit. Not that Draco pretended, of course. But, as long as they technically got along, it was fine with her.

She reached the portrait hole, said the password, and climbed in.

There she found Harry and Ron, looking at their Joggart. 

"Hi!" she said cheerily, coming next to them.

"Hey," Ron mumbled. "How was your date with Malfoy?"

Hermione glared at him. Date? _Date_? That got her started. "I can't believe this!" she exclaimed. "I'm just trying to be nice so I won't have to yell at Malfoy every time I see him, and then you come along as if I were doing something wrong!"

Ron looked at his Joggart. "Right."

Harry looked at Hermione, and whispered. "He can't believe you just went to see how he was," 

Hermione smiled. "Then you don't think I'm being stupid?"

Harry looked at his Joggart again, just like Ron had. "Well, I'm not exactly crazy about it, but…" he shrugged. "I'm not stopping you."

Hermione frowned slightly. Both boys didn't look at her. She turned on her heel and went up to the girls' dormitories. Boys! 

Lavender and Parvarti were sitting on Parvarti's bed, giggling furiously. Parvarti was blushing.

"What's up?" Hermione asked them, getting her transfiguration book and sitting on her own bed.

"Sean just asked Parvarti to the masquerade!" Lavender squealed.

"Oh, that's great, Parvarti!" Hermione exclaimed.

Parvarti got redder. 

"I knew it was coming," Lavender continued. "It was so _obvious_ he liked you!"

Hermione smiled and started reading tomorrow's lesson, while the two girls next to her went over Parvarti's robes excitedly, saying 'No, this won't do for a dance,' or 'This looks pretty on you'. She tried to ignore that strange feeling of jealousy in her stomach, her eyes fixed on an illustration of a table transforming into a goblet.

***

Hermione waited patiently at the Entrance Hall with Bluey in her pocket. Draco hadn't shown up yet, and, although she had seen him eating at the Slytherin table this morning, she wanted to make sure he was ok. 

Then she saw him walking towards her silently, hands in his pockets.

When they were face to face, she smiled. 

"How's your arm?" she asked.

"Fine," Draco answered.

They walked out of the castle towards the same tree as the day before without talking. When they had sat under it, and Hermione had taken out a quill and some parchments, Draco took out the book she had given him the other day.

She took it. "Did you like it?"

"It was alright."

She started writing. "Bluey weights about ten pounds now. A bit heavy for its size, don't you think?" she asked, hoping to break the silence.

Draco examined the Joggart. "A bit, maybe."

He was trying to talk as less as possible. He didn't want to make conversation with Granger.

When Hermione finished writing that, she looked at Bluey again. "And his feet a bit bigger."

As she wrote this, Bluey, who was on the grass between them, moved towards Draco, his two big eyes focused on Draco's hand. Draco didn't see him. He was too busy looking at the lake, or, rather, at nothing in particular.

"And, I think-" but Hermione stopped, because she saw Bluey making his way slowly towards Draco's hand. "_Don't_!" she exclaimed, snatching him.

Draco looked at her. "Don't?"

"Bluey was heading straight for your hand," she explained, touching Bluey's hairs softly. "I snatched him before he could do any harm."

Draco fixed his eyes on the Joggart on Hermione's hand. He had a strong urge to smash the blasted creature into pieces, but he didn't, of course. He had been taught to control his feelings, and to never let them be seen by other people. 

"I guess it must've took a liking to your hand," Hermione said, shrugging, seeing Draco stare at Bluey so intently.

"Oh, that's fantastic," Draco said sarcastically. "Just what I need. Another purple-armed session with Madam Pomfrey by my side."

Hermione laughed a little. 

Draco glanced at her. He had never made someone laugh except Crabbe and Goyle, but they laughed at anything that sounded weird to them, and they just laughed stupidly, even if there was no reason to. Hermione's laugh was different. It was full of joy and cheerfulness, and her cheeks got red when she did it. He had a strange desire to make her laugh again.

"Just keep it from me," Draco said, this time seriously and (he hoped) coldly. 

Hermione nodded, still smiling, and placed Bluey on the grass at her other side, away from Draco.

The only sound now was Hermione's quill as she scribbled on her parchment. 

She glanced at Bluey briefly, and continued writing. But her eyes flicked towards Bluey again.

"It's eating the grass!" Hermione exclaimed.

Draco looked at Hermione, without moving. "Is it?"

"Yes!"

"Oh."

Hermione snatched Bluey up again. He was halfway done eating, with some grass poking out of his mouth. He blinked up at her innocently, the green grass poking out of his mouth quivering as he tried to eat it. She started giggling.

"What's the matter?" Draco drawled.

Hermione, in a fit of giggles, just dangled Bluey in the air for him to see.

She looked so innocent, holding the Joggart and giggling. 

"Oh."

Still giggling, she set Bluey down, writing what he had just done. She was soon distracted by him again, though, when he started hiccupping. 

She chuckled. "A Joggart that hiccups! I have to write this down."

Draco watched her with mild interest as she looked at Bluey and wrote, smiling all along. 

After a few moments, Bluey burped- loud.

That sent Hermione, who was already chuckling, into a fit of laughter.

Draco had to admit (although he hated doing so) that it _was_ kind of funny, hearing Bluey burp. He didn't laugh, of course, just watched as Hermione laughed, her cheeks red. 

"Granger," he said, finally. "Get on with writing. I have other things to do."

She wouldn't stop laughing, so Draco had to get the parchments and quill from her and write Bluey's burp down himself. 

Eventually Hermione calmed down.

"Better?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Hermione answered, smiling. She stood up. "I guess we'd better go. You said you had things to do."

He got up too, and handed her the parchments and quill. 

As they walked towards the castle, Hermione gave Bluey to Draco. He put it in his pocket hastily.

"I hope he doesn't bite you," Hermione said.

"If he does, I'll make sure he never does again."

When they reached the Entrance Hall, Hermione started running up the marble staircase. "Bye!" she called. "See you!"

Draco wouldn't have admitted it, not even to himself, but he was looking forward to it.

***

Their next meeting had to be postponed, though, since it rained that day. They agreed to meet next Monday, second week of October. 

And on Saturday, after two rainy days, the sky was clear. Not one single cloud in the air.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed, looking out the common room window. "I'll get to practice quidditch!" 

"I was thinking, Harry," Hermione said as they made their way towards breakfast. "How about if we had a little snack outside today?"

"Outside?" Ron asked. "Don't you think it's a bit _chilly_ to be outside?"

She shrugged. "Ok, then. Doesn't matter."

"Maybe another day," Harry suggested carefully. "I'd like to practice quidditch today, if you don't mind."

"Alright," she said, a bit disappointed. 

After they had breakfast, Harry went to get his firebolt while Ron and Hermione waited in the Entrance Hall. 

When he came back down, the three of them made their way towards the quidditch field.

"I want to have a go on it!" Ron informed them.

"Alright," Harry said. "We could take turns."

Halfway to the quidditch field, Hermione stopped, looking at some bushes.

"Anything the matter?" Ron asked.

"I think I saw a big, puffy ginger tail poking out of that bush," she said, pointing.

"Crookshanks?" Ron asked helpfully. 

"Maybe. You two go on. I'll see if it's him, and I'll catch up later," 

"Ok," Harry said, as he and Ron turned to go, both eager to get to the quidditch field as soon as possible.

Hermione walked over to the bushes. As she did, she saw Malfoy leaning against a tree near one of the cliffs, looking either down at the lake or off into the distance.

What was he doing there? Crabbe and Goyle weren't with him, and Pansy wasn't, either. So what could he be doing? _Oh well_, she thought. _None of my business._

She made her way towards the bushes, and rummaged through them, trying to see through all the leaves and branches. "Crookshanks?" she asked. "Is that you?"

No answer. 

"Crookshanks!" she called, bending twigs and branches. 

She let go of one of them, and she heard it hit something. In a flash, a ginger blur shot out of the bushes and started running away.

It _was_ Crookshanks! But what was he doing outside? Hermione had only seen him get outside of the castle when he was with Sirius on their third year, who was supposedly 'The Grim'. 

"Crookshanks!" she called after the ginger cat.

He didn't stop. Just kept on running, towards the cliff.

Hermione gasped. He would fall! If he didn't stop running, he would fall off the cliff into the lake!

She ran after him, "Crookshanks!" she yelled.

But it was no use. The cat didn't stop, just kept running fixedly towards the cliff.

Hermione was close behind him, getting nearer… he was almost at the cliff, and she was close behind. But, just three of four yards from the cliff, Crookshanks must've realized what he was doing, because he suddenly turned and went the other day. Hermione tried to turn around, but it was too late. She couldn't stop running so quickly. She slipped on some mud the previous rain had caused, which dragged her closer to the cliff.

"Hermione!" someone yelled.

And she fell.

******

Ok, for anyone who doesn't know, Hogwarts is on top of a cliff, next to the lake. So… if it's on a cliff, that means someone can fall OFF it, right? Lol. 

Please review!! Tell me if you liked it! Tell me if I was over dramatic by letting Hermione just fall like that!! Lol ^_^


	6. Chapter 6

Well, I got a lot of notes threatening my life if I didn't get this by next week… so here it is ^_^ OH!! And THE question (sorry, I forgot to put this in the first chapter) _What year are they in_??? In their 6th year ^_^

Ok, sorry for taking soooooo long to update, but I had a crazy week full of tests!! Anyway, here's the 6th chapter:

Thanks to: Me123, Strawberri, Michelle, GerHPfa, narcissusmuses, DracosgirlMakayla, silver fawkes, Tidal Dragon, KeeperOfTheMoon, Miss Conrad, Broken-Hermione, Chocolat Elf, Rachel, Elfin Warrior Maiden, annoyed, dreamer, The Crimson Cornet, Starrynight13, Luna, Leogirl, Vegeta Jr, Hyper_shark, Sher, Draco Lover, DemonWitch666, Gliniel of Tirragen + Malfoy, StarJade, lil-spitfire, history17, Hatokirei, midnight, Gi|Ly, YingRui, hermione 18, and Liquid Fire for reviewing!!

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

********

"Hermione!" someone yelled.

And she fell.

Or did she? 

She was hanging in mid air, with some rocks sticking out of the water below her, the cliff wall beside her, and the sky above her. 

But someone was gripping her hand tightly.

She closed her eyes, trembling with fright.

"Hermione, give me your other hand!" the person who was gripping her hand yelled. 

"I- I'm too scared!" she whimpered.

"Come on!" 

She took a deep breath and, slowly, carefully, she raised her hand over her head, trying to ignore those rocks sticking out of the water…

She felt the other person take her hand, and pull her upwards. She helped by putting her feet on the cliff wall, trying to hoist herself up.

Finally, after being scratched quite a lot, Hermione was on solid ground again, and she had fallen on top of her savior, who was-

"_Malfoy_?!" 

"The same," Draco said from under her. "Could you please get off me, Granger?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Yeah, hold on…"

As she was trying to get off Draco, Harry and Ron, who were both on the firebolt, landed beside them. Ron almost tripped as he got off the firebolt and ran towards them. 

"What, may I ask," he said, looking at them strangely. "Are you doing on top of Malfoy, Hermione?"

Harry, who had caught up with Ron, was now helping Hermione to her feet. "No time for that, Ron. Are you ok, Hermione?" 

"Ye- yeah," she stammered as he set her gently on the ground. Then he glared at Draco. 

"What've you done to her, Malfoy?" he spat.

Draco looked at Harry in astonishment. What had he _done_ to her? He had saved her life! So why was Potter angry, anyway?

"I saved her from falling off the cliff," Draco answered with the same tone of disgust Harry had used. 

Now Ron jumped in. "_Saved_ her? You _saved_ her, Malfoy?"

Draco glared at him.

"You probably set the whole thing up! You wouldn't save Hermione!" he went on.

"That's right," Harry said. "You want something in return, huh, Malfoy? That's what you want, isn't it?"

Draco, who was still on the floor, stood up. He wouldn't be sitting down to make Harry and Ron feel superior. Now he was level with them. Face to face.

"So," Draco said looking straight into Harry's green eyes. "You would have wanted me to leave Granger to die."

Ron looked at him, mouth hanging open. "No!"

"Drop it, please," Hermione said softly from the ground. She was slowly recovering from her shock.

"Very peculiar, though," Harry said, ignoring Hermione and staring fixedly at Draco. "That you would've saved her, don't you think? If you didn't want something in return, why'd you do it?"

Now Draco stood in silence, for he didn't know the answer to that. Why _had_ he done it? He had seen Granger heading straight for the cliff and before he knew what he was doing, his legs carried him towards her. But he had to say _something_.

Finally he clenched his teeth. "None of your business, Potter," he turned around and left, cloak swishing behind him. 

Harry, after glaring at Draco, ran towards Hermione. "We better get you to the Hospital Wing," he said. "Can you walk?"

Hermione was looking at Draco as he walked towards the castle. "You shouldn't have been so hard on him," she said.

"_Can you walk_?" Harry insisted.

Hermione stood up a bit shakily, but, with some effort, she took a few steps forwards. "Yes."

They made their way towards the castle slowly, Harry and Ron close to Hermione just in case she fell.

Ron was pretty angry. "Git," he muttered. "Wants something in return, that's it. Wouldn't have saved you if-"

"Ron," Hermione said. "Stop it, please."

Ron _did _stop. When Hermione had said that, she looked a bit pale. And her voice had a hint of anger. Why was she defending Malfoy, anyway?

"How did you know I fell?" she asked after a minute of silence.

"I was flying around with my firebolt," Harry answered, as they entered the castle. "And I saw you fall, Malfoy running after you. Then I just got Ron on the broomstick and flied over."

They reached the Hospital Wing, and as soon as Madam Pomfrey saw Hermione she ran over to her and pushed both boys away.

"What has happened, miss Granger?" she asked briskly as she settled the girl down on the bed. 

"I fell," she answered. 

"Fell?" Madam Pomfrey asked blankly. 

Harry, seeing Hermione was still too shocked to say anything, told Madam Pomfrey what had happened. 

"I see," Madam Pomfrey said. "Well, you two better go on, there's nothing for you to do here."

Harry and Ron, after telling Hermione they'd check on her later on, left. 

Hermione was given some chocolate, and then she was left alone to 'calm down, after all, falling off a _cliff_! I didn't expect that of you, miss Granger'

She thought about Draco. How he had saved her, how he had yelled her name. How he had gripped her hand tightly… and she smiled. It made her feel good to know Draco had saved her. He had sounded worried. It meant he couldn't possibly be as cold as he seemed. There was someone behind that protective cold shield. And she would try to get to that someone. There had to be a way. And she would find it.

***

Draco paced around the Slytherin common room silently, slowly. 

The image of Hermione falling off the cliff kept popping up in his mind. Great. Now, not only did he feel the urge to be nice when he was around her, but he also couldn't stop thinking about her. All Granger's fault. He tried to forget about her, but he couldn't. How was she? Was she in the Hospital Wing? Why had he saved her? Why were Potter and Weasley angry at him for it? Why should he even care about all this? 

But anger rose up inside him. Potter and Weasley! How dare they think he had saved Granger just to get something in return? Idiotic fools…

But he couldn't stop thinking about her! _How was she_? Unable to be kept in suspense any longer, he made his way towards the stone wall where the exit and entrance to the common room was located. He was almost there when someone blocked his way. 

Parkinson.

"Where are you going?" she asked, looking up at him eagerly.

"Nowhere," he said, pushing her away.

She went in front of him again. There were tears in her eyes. 

"I heard what happened to that mudblood!" she shrieked. "And now you're going to see her again, aren't you? You're always with her! And you-you never go with me anywhere!" she was hysterical now, wiping away her tears furiously.

"Get out of the way, Parkinson," Draco drawled, heading for the exit.

"No, I won't let you!" Pansy jumped in from of him yet again. "I'll go with you!"

"No, you won't," Draco said, and managed to open the wall.

Pansy walked beside him, sobbing. "I can't believe you can like that mudblood!" she said between sobs.

Draco whirled around furiously to look at her. Then, in his deadliest hiss, he said, "I do _not_ like Granger. Now go away."

Pansy started howling, frustrated. "Fine!" she yelled shrilly. "Go with her if you want! You'll- you'll regret it!" and she ran away.

Draco now walked slowly towards the Hospital Wing. What Parkinson had just said had made him think again. He did _not_ like Granger! He would _never_ like her! But then, why was he going to see her? He stopped just outside the Hospital Wing. Should he turn around? Yes, he would. But then he reconsidered, and, without thinking about it, stepped inside. 

Hermione was sitting on a bed, reading a book. He walked over to her, but she was so absorbed into the book that she didn't notice someone standing right beside her. 

"Granger,"

She jumped a bit, as she always did when Draco broke the silence. She looked up at him. He was watching her with an amused expression.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

"Hello. How are you doing?"

Draco had decided to just let this sentence come out without thinking about it. It sounded foolish. 

Hermione was so shocked by this question that she just stared at him blankly for a while, looking up into those cold gray eyes.

"Good," she answered. "Thanks for asking."

Draco regretted having asked. He didn't need Granger thanking him for anything.

"And," Hermione added, looking up at him with honest brown eyes. "Thank you for saving me."

He felt a sudden warmth round his heart, but he pushed it aside. 

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now," she went on. "So I'm very grateful, as you can understand."

"You're welcome, Granger," he said in spite of himself. 

"And… Malfoy? When you were… saving me, you yelled my name."

Both anger and a weird sensation rose up inside Draco. Anger and… what, exactly? He couldn't really explain.

"So… I was wondering. Could I call you Draco?"

Again that feeling of warmth at his chest. She looked so innocent, looking up at him and asking such a simple question. He didn't know what to do, so he just started to walk towards the door, which made Madam Pomfrey very happy, because, for once, she hadn't had to yell at someone to get out of her Hospital Wing. When he had almost reached the door, he turned around and looked at Hermione's eager face.

"Do whatever you want, Granger," he drawled.

"Please," she said, smiling. "Call me Hermione."

***

The next day Hermione was, in madam Pomfrey's opinion, well enough to get out of the Hospital Wing. Hermione was relieved, since she wouldn't have to taste any more awful tonics from the nurse. She walked happily into the Gryffindor common room, wanting to get done with her homework. She opened the portrait, and walked over to Harry and Ron, who were talking about the masquerade.

"Glad you're here, Hermione," Ron said. "Now you can help me by fixing me up with someone!" 

Hermione glared at him. "It's nice to see you too, Ron, I'm feeling much better now, thanks for asking."

Ron seemed puzzled for a moment, but then understood. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Um… so, you're feeling better?"

Hermione turned to Harry, who looked just as defenseless as Ron under Hermione's glare. "I'm glad you're better," he said finally.

Hermione didn't smile. "Thanks," and she turned around to walk towards her dormitory. 

"No, wait!" Ron exclaimed, getting up from the couch and grabbing her arm. "Please, 'mione, we need your help!"

"Don't 'mione me, Ron," Hermione said, annoyed. "It won't make me fix you up with someone."

"Please?" Ron insisted. "How about Parvarti?"

"First of all," Hermione said. "She's going with Sean. Secondly, Padma found you a great bore on your fourth year, so I don't think her twin sister would go with you."

"Hermione!" Ron wailed, still clinging on to her robes. "Please help!"

Hermione sighed. She hated to see Ron so miserable and anxious, both because she was her friend, and because he could be a royal pain. 

"Fine. With who?" she asked.

Ron's face lit up. "Anyone as long as her nose is centered," 

Hermione pulled away from him and dragged herself into her dormitory, where she found Lavender looking at herself in the mirror.

She took a deep breath and got straight to the point. "Lavender, will you go to the masquerade with Ron?"

Lavender turned around to face Hermione. "What?"

Hermione hated to repeat herself, but she did. "Will you go to the masquerade with Ron?"

"Oh…" Lavender said, getting a bit red. "Well… ok,"

Hermione sighed with relief. Her match-making job was over! "Ok, thanks," she said, and went back into the common room. Ron had seated himself next to Harry, who was now reading a quidditch book.

"Ron, you'll go to the ball with Lavender," Hermione informed him.

"What?" Ron asked, his mouth hanging open.

Hermione had to repeat herself. Again. "You and Lavender will go to the ball together!" she said.

Harry gaped at her.

"Don't know how you do it," Ron said in amazement. "I took _so_ long just to _think_ about who to ask, and, in five minutes, you've found me a date!"

Hermione had to smile at that. "Well," she said. "You talk with Lavender about what time to pick her up and all those pre-masquerade arrangements. I'll go do my homework."

She turned around and left, leaving both Harry and Ron gaping after her, wondering just how she did it.

***

Hermione walked down the stairs, towards the Entrance Hall. Draco was already there, looking at her as she made her way towards him.

"Hi Draco!" she said cheerily. 

"Hello Gran- Hermione," he drawled. 

Hermione smiled as he said her name, and together they walked outside, towards their tree. 

Draco had the urge to ask how she was doing, but he didn't, just stood in silence. Hermione hummed a bit until they sat under the tree, and he got Bluey out of his pocket. 

She gasped. 

"It…grew!" 

And so Bluey _had _grown a considerable two inches. 

"And look!" Hermione said, pointing. "There's a tiny black dot on his stomach!" she looked up at Draco. "He's growing fast! Soon we'll be able to tickle it and see what it turns into!"

Draco was a bit amused at her excitement. It was almost contagious.

Hermione wrote it down, and then looked at the lake. Her mouth dropped open. 

"Draco, look!" she said, tugging at his sleeve and pointing at a big, white, beautiful ship that was at the lake.

"A ship," Draco stated.

"What…" but then Hermione remembered. "It must be the ship for the masquerade!"

"Dumbledore brought it a week and a half in advance," Draco said. "The house elves will check that it's presentable by then."

"It looks pretty presentable to me," Hermione, glad to be talking with Draco. "What can the elves do?"

"Put magic charms on it," Draco answered. 

"Oh," Hermione said. "That's right. But why the elves?" She had stopped trying to get everyone to wear a S.P.E.W badge a long time ago, but she still strongly disagreed about house elves having to do everything around Hogwarts.

"Because," Draco drawled. "That's their job."

"But they don't even get paid!" Hermione insisted. She had gone over this a lot of times before, but she never got tired of arguing over it.

"Keep writing," Draco said.

Hermione did, since it was Draco who was talking to her. She didn't know Draco much, but she didn't want him to get mad at her. And he _had_ sounded a bit annoyed. She wanted to get past all that coldness, not draw him away.

There was a bit of silence but, for the rest, that meeting was ok. Draco talked to her more than usual, and he seemed a bit more easy-going. She made jokes and, once, he almost smiled. His voice wasn't as cold anymore, and he didn't seem arrogant.

Success. 

***

Four days later, Harry was frantically pacing around the Gryffindor common room. "One week," he said. "_One week_, and I still haven't asked Cho to the ball!" 

Hermione was getting a parchment and quill, since she had to meet Draco again today. 

"Harry," she said in a calming voice. "Don't worry! You still have seven days. Build up the courage and ask her tomorrow,"

Harry gave her a murderous look. "Build up the courage," he muttered. "Easy for you to say…"

She didn't hear the rest, because she went out the portrait hole. This time she was the one early, and Draco the one late. 

They sat down under the tree and the usual routine began. 

Draco had been thinking about Hermione these past four days. He didn't know why, but she was in his mind. Probably because she was the only one who listened to him, who made him want to talk, made him want to be nice. He didn't admit that, of course. He just didn't know why she was in his mind. But an unusual question had been bothering him: Was she going with anyone to the ball? Was she going with Potter? With Weasley? Perhaps with another Gryffindor boy? He didn't know _why_ he should even care, but he did. Finally, glancing at her, he asked casually. 

"Are you going to the masquerade?"

Hermione looked up at him, surprised. 

He couldn't really read her face. There was a surprised feeling, and… a sad one? It was the only face he could really read, and he still had trouble with it. 

"No," she answered in a normal voice. "Well… I don't know. I don't have anyone to go with, and I'm not sure if I should go alone." then she raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

He didn't have time to answer, because Pansy stopped right in front of them, her face as red as Ron's hair, her face screwed up in anger. 

"I- I cannot believe you almost asked her to the ball!" she exclaimed.

Draco looked at Pansy blankly. She couldn't possibly think that he had just wanted to ask Hermione to the masquerade. 

"Draco, forget her" she said, and she put on a sweet face. "Go to the masquerade with _me_,"

Draco looked as if he had been asked to hug Harry Potter. 

Hermione looked away. She hated when Pansy came to ruin their little time together. She always made her uncomfortable, going after Draco.

"No," Draco answered, as if it was the most obvious answer to a question.

Pansy's eyes filled with tears. "Please, Draco!"

"No, Parkinson,"

Pansy started howling. "I can't believe this… you and I are," she sobbed. "Meant to be, Draco! Both our parents want us to grow up and follow the Dark Lord," she sobbed harder. "And here you are, spending your time with mudbloods!" 

Hermione, who was playing around with a leaf, crumbled it. She was getting angry.

"Parkinson, we are _not_ meant to be," Draco said. 

Pansy cried harder. She opened her mouth to say something, but she hiccupped. Then, crying harder still, she ran away. 

Hermione would've said "Poor Pansy," but she didn't. Before, she would've felt sorry for her whenever Draco was so mean to her. But not anymore. She found that it bothered her to see Pansy following Draco everywhere. And she had called her a mudblood again! She was angry. Very angry. But there was something Pansy said that bothered her.

"You're… going to become a Death Eater?" Hermione asked softly.

That took Draco by surprise an he didn't say anything. That question was very personal. He hated when someone asked him that. He hated when someone, like Pansy, stated that he would grow up to be one. But he didn't mind much when Hermione asked it. All his feelings seemed knotted down in his stomach. 

"My father," he answered silently, aware of what he was about to say. "Wants me to be one. But… I don't really want to." he felt foolish, telling this to Hermione.

She stood in silence, watching him. "Oh," she answered. That was good, she thought. He didn't want Draco to be a Death Eater. "You don't have to, if you don't want to. I wouldn't like you to be one."

And again, that warm feeling at his chest. "My father has ways," Draco replied. "Of making people do what he wants."

"But he can't make you do that!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's cruel!"

Draco chuckled silently. "My father doesn't care about that. He just wants me to follow the Dark Lord. That's all that matters."

"But-"

"Keep writing," Draco said. 

It made him feel good to know that Hermione cared. She had listened to him, and she had worried. She cared. That felt both weird and good.

They didn't talk for the rest of the meeting, but Hermione was happy. He had confided in her. He had opened up a bit of his mysterious part, the one no one knew about. And she was glad. 

She was finding the way into Draco. She was finally seeing past that cold shield.

*******

Yep yep yep, like everyone pretty much guessed, Draco caught her :D such a gentleman… 


	7. Chapter 7

Oops!! Sorry The Crimson Comet for getting your name wrong in the last chapter!! Sorry!! But see? I spelled your name nicely up there, didn't I? :D

Thanks to: TicklemeHelmo, DracosGirlMakayla, Jenni, S-Star, Dreamer, Steff, fb90, broken-Hermione, Jen Drake, The Crimson Comet, OneOfThoseAnonymousFolks, mulderluva, JAMtilldawn, Hermione18, Vegeta Jr, Pudmuffin, Bob, YingRui, KeeperOfTheMoon, The Adorable Kitten Fluffy, Starjade, Hyper_Shark, Hatokerei, Tom Felton's Babe, fawkes, Esperanza, Mainey, and Luna for reviewing!! Sorry if I forgot someone, I'm not sure if I did this time… let me know if I forgot you!!

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

******

Hermione was doing her Transfiguration homework when Harry opened the portrait and climbed in. He had a very sour face, so she could guess what had happened before he slumped on the couch and announced that Cho wasn't going to go with him to the masquerade.

"Going with some Ravenclaw boy," he muttered angrily. 

Hermione smiled at him sympathetically, stood up, and patted his hand. "Well…" she stopped. She didn't know what to say.

Ron avoided the whole matter by becoming very interested in the fire, and glancing sideways at Harry. 

"I'm…sorry, Harry," she said after a while of silence.

He tried to glare at her, but he ended up making a self-pitying face. 

Ron cleared his throat. Hermione knew, since she had known him for six years now, that it was a dead giveaway he was uncomfortable.

Harry sighed, and stood up. "Guess I'll go have a shower. Being rejected can take the energy out of you…" he walked away.

"I hope he finds someone to go with," Hermione said.

"In six days?" Ron asked incredulously. "Nah. All the good ones taken."

Hermione glared at him before standing up and storming off into the dormitories, muttering something about boys. 

In the dormitories, she found Lavender and Parvarti, fussing about what to wear again.

"Hermione!" Lavender exclaimed. She ran towards Hermione, took her by the wrist, and dragged her towards her wardrobe. "Since you know Ron _so_ much better than I," she said, rummaging through her clothes, and pulling out two dresses. "Which would he like better?"

Hermione looked at both dresses Lavender was holding. On her right, she held a tiny, pale pink dress which seemed to have been made for a baby to wear, and not a sixteen-year-old girl. On her left, she held a long black dress which sparkled in the light. She didn't like neither of them. And… wasn't it supposed to have a medieval theme?

"But…" she said carefully. "Lavender, the masquerade has a medieval theme… shouldn't the clothes be medieval, too?"

Parvarti gasped, and looked at Hermione blankly. 

Hermione shrugged.

"Dumbledore _wouldn't_…" Parvarti said. "Medieval clothes! As if! I want _modern_ clothes, thank you very much!" 

Lavender looked at Hermione helplessly. "Are you _sure_?" 

"I was just saying… I mean, it wouldn't make any sense, would it?"

"I am _not_ wearing twenty petticoats!" Parvarti insisted. "Never! I bought a gorgeous dress at Hogsmeade, and I'm not planning to return it!"

Then Lavender started laughing hysterically. "Imagine Sean in _tights_!"

"What?" Parvarti asked, annoyed.

"Men wore tights back then," Lavender answered, still laughing.

"Oh, no," Parvarti groaned. "Not that!"

Hermione chuckled. It _would_ be something, seeing Sean in tights. Seeing _Ron_ in tights! Seeing… Draco in tights? She found that so funny that she started laughing, too.

"I'm going to ask Dumbledore," Parvarti decided. "Or _someone_! Maybe I'll ask Professor Mcgonagal in transfiguration on Monday."

That reminded Hermione that she still had transfiguration homework, so, saying a hurried good bye to Lavender and Parvarti, she hurried down to the common room to do it.

***

Parvarti _did_ ask McGonagall on Monday. 

"Professor," she said, lowering her hand after being called upon. "Do we have to wear… medieval clothes to the masquerade?" 

A murmur ran through the class. 

Professor McGonagall ordered everyone to quiet before she said anything. "Well, miss Patil, it's voluntary."

Parvarti sighed with relief.

"As you all know, it's a Halloween masquerade, so you can put on a costume…or not put it on. But," she said, scanning the class. "Masks _are _obligatory. After all, it _is_ a masquerade."

Another murmur ran through the class.

"Now, we will continue with the lesson,"

***

That afternoon, Hermione sat in the common room, looking into the fire. What Professor McGonagall said had made her think. 'After all, it _is_ a masquerade'. Yes… Of course! It was a masquerade! She could go, and no one would know it was her… her face would be hidden by the mask, and no one had to know if she had gone or not! No one would know that… she didn't have a date.

She stood up and ran towards the dormitories, with a plan ready. She couldn't buy a dress, because the next Hogsmeade trip was in two weeks, but she _could _fix one of her dresses. She rummaged through her wardrobe, and finally found what she was looking for: a light blue dress, with silver lace at her waist and handcuffs. There were some silver trimmings at the neck and at the end of the dress. She liked it because it was very old-fashioned. It would make a perfect medieval dress.

She put the dress on the bed, and to out her wand. She had learned this tricky spell by reading one of Parvarti's fashion magazines, and she knew it would come in handy some day. 

Saying her well-chosen words, she waved the wand at her dress, and watched its effects. The wavy skirt started getting larger as it was filled with five petticoats. It parted a bit at the center, and revealed a silver skirt under it. The chest part got fancier, with some trimmings going all around it, and the sleeves got, on one side, shorter, and on the other, longer and wavier. 

Hermione smiled at the effect and, without wasting time, tried it on, and looked at herself in the mirror. She thought she looked a bit funny with so many petticoats, but she liked it just the same. Her chest was tight in the dress, but she liked how she looked. She twirled, and liked how the sleeves twirled with her on the outer part of her hand. On the other side, they were normal sleeves.

She grinned, thinking she had done a pretty good job, being the first time she ever tried the spell. 

The mask was no problem, because she already had one. She walked over to her desk and opened a drawer, from which she took out a mask. It was white, with tiny beads at the edges. It covered part of her forehead and cheeks.

She put it on, and looked at herself in the mirror. 

Excellent.

No one would tell it was her. Or would they…? She frowned. She had to change the hair. Everyone would know it was her if just by spotting her bushy hair. On her fourth year, she had tried sleek and straight. She wanted to try something new. Curly? Yes, she decided. Curly it would be. She would curl it the day of they masquerade, though. She wasn't going to spend two hours just to see how it looked.

Happily, after putting her Hogwarts robes back on, she skipped down into the common room to watch Harry and Ron play wizard chess.

***

This time, Draco was the one early. He waited in silence, with his hands in his pockets. 

He had no idea why he had told Hermione such personal things the other day. She had just listened so good, looking up at him with wondering brown eyes. No one had ever cared about him before. His father had no time for him, and if he had, it was to remind him that he must become a Death Eater. His mother _did_ care for him, but she never had time for him, either, always having to be at Lucius' side to do this and that. He looked up when he heard footsteps getting louder and louder for, even if he was absorbed in his thoughts, Draco always noticed when someone was around.

"Hi, Draco," Hermione said, smiling at him. "Sorry I'm late, but… something happened," frowning, she got out the Joggart from her pocket. She couldn't get it out at first. It seemed to cost her a great deal, but she finally did. "He weights a lot," she explained, handing it to him.

The weight of the Joggart was unexpected, and Draco almost fell flat on the ground if he hadn't reacted quickly.

"What the…?"

"Ron," Hermione said angrily. "He was feeding his Joggart when he thought it would be funny to let Bluey and Navy- his Joggart- 'associate'. Well, at first it went great. Both Joggarts seemed to get on well enough, so Ron and I went to talk with Harry. Then, about ten minutes later, we heard shrieks from the box where we had left our Joggarts, and then a muffled cry, so we went to see what happened." 

At this part of the story, Hermione was _really_ angry, Draco could see, because her voice was getting louder, and she was clutching her fists. It kind of amused him, actually.

"Well! It was such a- a tremendously… _strange_ thing!" she looked up at him. He hadn't said a word or moved a muscle since she had been talking to him, and she wanted to make sure he was really listening. He was watching her, so she kept on going. "Navy had, somehow, gotten a knight from Ron's wizard chess and, holding it between his teeth, was forcing it down Bluey's throat."

__

Now Draco was amused. Not only because of where the story had gotten to, but because Hermione kept crossing her arms, and her face was a bit red. 

"Bluey ate it, and look what happens now! He's _heavy_!"

Draco bounced the creature up and down on his hand, partly because Bluey was trying to bite it, and partly because he felt like doing so. "A chess piece doesn't weight this much," he stated.

"Ron, for once, had done his Transfiguration homework. It was to make something light heavy. Well, Navy got just the _one_ piece Ron had made heavy! I asked him _how_ Navy could've gotten hold of that piece, and he said that he had left it lying around! Honestly…"

Draco tried not to chuckle as they walked outside. Seeing Hermione angry was funny. If it had been Neville, he would've backed away but, Draco, who was anything _but_ Neville, was amused, and it made him like her a bit more.

They sat down, Hermione still fussing about the now heavy Joggart. She got out a parchment and a quill and wrote furiously, pressing very hard on the paper. 

Draco snatched the parchment away. "Look, you're going to break the parchment if you keep on like that," he drawled, getting her quill, too. "So I'll write."

Hermione watched as he wrote in neat, straight lines across the parchment. Then she felt something furry brush past her hand, and she stared angrily at the Joggart as he examined her hand, as if it was his fault he was now so heavy.

"What'll Hagrid say?" she groaned. She looked at Draco. "Do you think chess pieces are toxic?"

Draco chuckled. He couldn't help it. 

"Well, maybe they _are_ after being transformed!"

"Granger, I thought you were smarter than that,"

"Hermione," she corrected automatically. "And don't think you're so smart! You're-"

"Easy, 'mione, just a small, simple, helpless comment, no need to get worked up…"

"Don't call me 'mione!" she exclaimed.

Being Draco, he was having a pretty good time. He might have started to like Hermione, but he still loved to see her angry. 

"Alright, 'mione,"

"Don't!" she hissed. 

Then she saw a smile fighting its way onto Draco's lips, and she calmed down a bit. He wanted to see her angry. He _liked_ seeing her angry! Well, she thought, at least he's more relaxed than when we began about a month ago. That made her feel better, so she smiled and leaned her back on the tree, thinking it was amazing she was now feeling relaxed because of the boy she had beside her.

***

Hermione jerked her head up from her potions essay to the sound of Harry's and Ron's laughter. 

They were both doing their divination homework, hiding grins and chuckles from Hermione's careful watch over them, but they couldn't stop laughing this time.

"You've been making it up again, haven't you?" Hermione asked, getting up and walking towards them. 

Ron laughed again. "Obviously,"

Hermione frowned and snatched Ron's predictions to read them over. 

"Uh-huh," she said. "Getting trampled by a carriage, being bitten by a giant Joggart as you were trying to open its mouth with a quill…" she looked up and glared at both boys, who were trying to muffle their laughter with their hands. She kept on reading over decapitations, murders, and drownings, until she got to the last one. "I will unluckily be put under the Imperious Curse," she read aloud. "making me dreadfully turn Malfoy into a jumping ferret."

She got so angry that she threw the predictions into Ron's face, which shocked him, and he stopped laughing. 

"It's not funny!" she yelled, surprising herself.

Harry and Ron both gaped at her. 

"Just… stop being like that! You don't have to be so mean towards Draco, he hasn't done anything to you these past few weeks!"

Ron stood up, furious. "Draco? _Draco_? Since when have you called him _Draco_?"

"Since I felt like it!" she snapped.

Then Harry stood up. "He's bothered us these past five years and he can't make it up by _not_ bothering us for a few _weeks_!"

"Yes he can!" Hermione yelled. 

"I can't believe this," Ron said, gaping at her. "You're actually defending Malfoy?"

"Yes, I am!" and with that, she turned on her heel and went to the dormitories. 

She had surprised herself by getting so angry, by yelling so loud, by defending Draco. But he wasn't nasty anymore. At least, not to her. He was cold, but she was getting closer to him. Harry and Ron shouldn't always take it out on him! It wasn't fair! He hadn't done _anything_ to them lately! She sighed, and sat down on her bed.

But he _has_ done something to _me_, she thought, I can no longer stand someone talking badly about him. I want to know him better, want to understand him, want to be near him.

She closed her eyes and was soon asleep.

***

The day before the masquerade, Dumbledore stood up in the Great Hall. "As you all know," he said. "The first day of the masquerade is to be held tomorrow,"

An excited murmur spread across the Great Hall.

"The ship is almost ready. Just a few more spells on it, and a bit more cleaning," he smiled, and his eyes twinkled. "I must remind everyone that it is not obligatory to wear a costume, but you must wear a mask. Be on the ship tomorrow evening at nine o'clock. That'll be all,"

Harry looked at Cho sadly. 

Hermione patted him. "It'll be ok," she said, trying to comfort him.

He shook his head. "No, it won't." he sighed, and picked at his chicken. 

Hermione looked across the Great Hall and looked at Draco, who was looking at her. She smiled and waved.

He didn't do anything. Should he wave? No. His pride wouldn't let him. At least, not when he was around all these Slytherins, looking at him with beady eyes, watching his every more. 

He looked away. 

***

Draco looked at himself in the mirror one more time, and secured his black mask tightly. He went out of the Slytherin common room, and made his way towards the Entrance Hall. He looked pretty impressive with black pants, black shirt, black cloak, black mask, and silvery hair. As he passed by, people seemed to shiver a little. 

He reached the Entrance Hall, and looked at the lake. At the center of it there was a beautiful ship, glowing with light. 

The masquerade had already started.

Draco Malfoy wasn't the kind of person who showed up late for something, but this time he wasn't punctual. And he had done it on purpose.

He walked on the grass, through the lighted path that led to the ship, until he reached the lake.

The ship was enormous, and all its windows were lighted, through which you could see people dancing. He climbed the ladder and stepped on deck. Everything was silent. Only his footsteps could be heard. 

As he neared a door, he could hear music coming from behind it. He opened it, and entered the previous dining room. All the tables and chairs had been moved to one side, where people were sitting and talking. There was also some tables lined with food at the far end, a table just for the teachers, and a huge dance floor. 

What he noticed first was that almost all the girls had decided to dress up, because he saw hundreds of voluminous skirts. None of the boys had seemed to want to wear tights, though. But one boy was wearing them and Draco guessed it was Neville once the boy had stepped on five skirts, and tripped, falling straight into someone's butterbeer. 

The floor was made out of wood, but the ceiling had beautiful pictures on it. Moving pictures of angels, all surrounding the enormous candelabra that hung from the ceiling. As he looked up, he noticed that there was another floor in the room. He looked to his right and saw wooden staircases, which led to a landing. People were also dancing there, and some were leaning on a rail, looking down at them.

As he started walking towards an empty chair, he saw a beautiful girl go down the stairs from the landing, walk across the room, and go outside, onto deck.

And she seemed to be alone.

Draco walked after her. He closed the door behind him silently, and looked around for her. 

She was leaning on the rail, and looking down at the water.

She had curly hair, and was wearing a blue dress. 

He stood beside her, and she looked to see who was watching her. Two brown eyes looked up at him from behind a white mask. He was sure he knew those eyes, but… no. It couldn't be. She said she wouldn't come.

"Would you like to dance?" he got straight to the point. 

She seemed shocked at first, looking at him closely, but then she smiled. "Alright." 

He offered her his arm, and she took it.

Together they walked across deck, and into the dance floor, where a song had just started. Draco immediately knew this was a waltz. 

Some people groaned. They preferred songs such as the fast one they had had before. 

Draco put his arm around the girl's waist, and she put her hand on his shoulder. Then their free hands met, and as she looked up at him, he was sure he knew those eyes.

She moved gracefully, but let him steer. He was glad of that, for he loved to be in control. 

When the song ended, she smiled at him, and he found himself smiling back.

Then a slow song came on, and much more people stepped onto the dance floor. 

Draco got her closer to him, and they started dancing. Draco didn't even think it was dancing. It was just standing very close to your partner, and moving to the time of the music. They were standing so close that he could feel the heat coming from her. And she smelled pretty good, too. Her skin was silky smooth, and the world began to fade away. He was only aware of where their hands touched, and on the beautiful brown eyes that stared back at him. Nothing else mattered. Only her eyes were important, and to her, his eyes were the only thing to care about. All in all, it was gray set on brown.

***

After three more dances, one fast, and two normal ones, Draco's partner said that she wanted to go on deck, to have some fresh air.

He followed her, thinking he might have upset her.

"I'm sorry," he said, speaking the words as if he had never said them before. In fact, he hadn't. 

"Sorry for what?" she asked, looking at him.

"For…" he suddenly felt very stupid. He _hadn't_ upset her! "I thought you got tired of me and just wanted to get away."

"Of course not!" she exclaimed. Then she got a little red. "Actually, I loved dancing with you."

That warmed Draco, and calmed him down.

"We could stay outside, if you want," he said softly.

She smiled, and her eyes shone. "Want to dance out here?" she asked. 

"Aren't you tired?"

"No," she answered. "Not at all. I just wanted a bit of fresh air. Everyone is in there and I wanted to get out for a while. So shall we dance?"

"As you wish," Draco said, saying that phrase for the first time in his life.

The music drifted from the door that led to the dancing floor. It was another slow song.

Her eyes shone in the moonlight. Her hair moved in the wind. She was beautiful. But he couldn't help but feeling suspicious as those brown eyes watched him, thinking, all along, that it might be _her_. But he enjoyed himself anyway.

After a few more dances by themselves, they went inside again. Both looked at the tables full of food, but decided they still wanted to dance, so they kept going, liking each other more and more. If they hadn't been so wrapped up in each other, though, they would've seen a pair of green eyes watching them closely.

***

And, a bit too soon for their liking, the last song ended, and the masquerade came to an end.

Draco let go of her, and she smiled at him.

"Will you be coming tomorrow?" she asked.

"Of course,"

She looked at the door, where two boys were waiting for her. 

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then!"

She walked towards the boys and, before he could stop himself, he yelled "Wait! What's your name?"

And the dreaded answer came, the answer that left him paralyzed, the answer he had known all along but had tried to deny it.

"Hermione, Hermione Granger," 

And she ran away.

******

Ok, maybe the masquerade was a bit too cheesy. Or a lot too cheesy. Anyway, what did you think??? Review! Please!!!! 


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for being honest, everyone!! :D ok, I'll try for this masquerade not to be TOO cheesy, ok? And if it is, then, sorry . and please forgive!

Oh, and sorry for taking so long with this chapter!! It was kind of hard to write, since I had to really think about the character's reactions at things, and what to add or remove from the masquerade. But it's also longer than the rest! I, er… got carried away, lol. Anyway, enjoy!! ^.^

Thanks to: S-Star, ljp, gryffindorphoenix, Dracoslove, Blade Griffin, Shmook, KeeperOfTheMoon, Broken-Hermione, Dawn Of Slytherin, Crystalline Lily, Bob, The Crimson Comet, RiaKatKar, Magical Malady, DemonWitch666, Jen Drake, jokester515, Megan, Vegeta Jr, Hatokirei, girldevil, Christine, hyper_shark, Lorraine, Esperanza, Marille, The Adorable Kitten Fluffy, DracosGirlMakayla, JDM, GerHPfa, Dying Moonlight, Luna, Jaci, Crissy101, Silver Fawkes, StarJade, Gilly, Hermione18, Jenni, and Eloria Leblanc for reviewing!! 

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

*****

Draco found it hard to sleep that night. He previous events kept on popping up in his head.

He had danced with Hermione.

He had _slow_ danced with _Hermione Granger_!

And he had liked it. 

Draco wasn't fooled easily. He had known it was Hermione the moment he had seen her. He just denied it, because he wanted to dance with her. 

No! It just couldn't be! He _hadn't _wanted to dance with her! Right…?

But she had looked so good at the masquerade… and had treated him so good these past few weeks. She had been kind, cheerful, and helpful.

And he was grateful for that. 

Tomorrow he would see her again. What would he say? What would _she_ say? What would happen? 

It was a long time until he slept but, finally, slowly, his eyelids drooped.

***

She was waiting for him at the Entrance Hall. Her hair was bushy again, he noticed, and smiled inwardly. There was Hermione, trying not to be discovered. What she didn't know was that she'd been discovered by the least expected person.

"Hi, 'mione," Draco said, stopping in front of her, and trying to make her a bit angry.

He had expected a little shake, or a 'Stop calling me that!' or even a glare, but she did nothing of the sort. She had a dreamy look about her, as if she were a distant way off, fantasizing about something. 

He hit her arm with his finger, and she looked up at him. 

"Oh, hi," she said, as if barely noticing he was there.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded, and together they walked outside.

She was strangely quiet, and Draco missed her cheerful chatting around as they sat down. She didn't get a parchment or a quill out, just looked at nothing at particular.

"Hermione," Draco said. "I don't want to bother you while you're fantasizing about getting top marks, but-"

He stopped. She wasn't listening to him.

He tapped her shoulder, and she looked at him.

"Hermione," he tried again. "Know where you are?"

"Yes!" she said.

"What are we doing?"

"Working on the Joggart project,"

"And…"

"Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly, getting out a parchment and a quill. "Right…"

"Knew we'd get there eventually," Draco drawled.

She gave him a small glare, and started writing the changes she saw the Joggart had made.

"What _are_ you thinking about?" Draco asked her, as he saw her usually neat writing a bit sloppy.

She turned red, and bent her head down to try and hide it with her hair. "Nothing,"

Draco wasn't fooled.

"I suppose you're thinking about the lovely time you had yesterday at the masquerade, and about the handsome boy you danced with," he said, proudly pronouncing 'handsome'.

She turned redder. "Actually, yes."

Draco stood still. He had only been joking! He hadn't actually thought… was she serious?

Hermione had told him because she was trusting him more and more, specially since he had saved her from falling off that cliff. She felt comfortable talking with him now. She knew he wouldn't laugh. 

"So you had a good time then?" Draco asked silently.

"Yes," Hermione said, a bit suspicious about Draco suddenly becoming interested, and asking questions. She decided to do the same. "Did _you_ dance with anyone?"

He stood quiet for a moment. He hadn't expected that. She wasn't supposed to ask that! What should he say? 

His pride was too great to answer 'no', and let her think he hadn't had fun, or that no one had wanted to go with him. 

"Yes. With a pretty and charming girl," he added, to make clear that he _had_ had fun.

Hermione giggled. She hadn't expected such an answer from Draco.

"Really, Draco?" she teased. "Do I know her?"

This was getting harder. He would never _ever_ talk to a girl about a masquerade again! They got a bit giggly, and asked questions… and that made him nervous.

"Yes," he answered.

She smiled evilly. "Who is it?"

Now _this_ was too much!

"None of your business," he said, a bit too coldly. 

She turned back to her work slowly, with a sort of hurt face. "Ok," 

He hadn't meant to say it so coldly. It just came out that way. But seeing Hermione's excited face turn into a slightly hurt one wasn't too amusing at the moment.

She quickly recovered, though, and changed the conversation. "Bluey's hairs are wider," 

Draco was silent for a moment. "Yes, they are."

"And the black spot on its tummy is bigger," Hermione said, smiling.

She tried to make more cheerful comments, but Draco was serious and silent.

And cold.

She finally sighed. "Ok, I'm sorry for asking such a personal question," she said. She felt as if she had ruined all her efforts of trying to get to Draco for the past weeks. And now, with just one stupid question, he was back to his cold self again.

To her surprise, Draco was trying to hide a smile, and he did something he had never done before. He patted her head playfully. 

"No hard feelings, Granger," he said, almost smiling without wanting to. Then he looked at her straight in the eyes and said coldly, "But don't _ever_ ask again,"

Hermione was contented, because she knew Draco wasn't angry, and just smiled at him.

They stood in silence for a minute, until they saw Pansy running towards them.

"I thought the leg-locker curse would last longer," Draco muttered.

Hermione looked at him, half amused, half disapprovingly.

Draco shrugged. "She was following me around,"

They both looked at Pansy again. She looked as if she were running for her life. 

Then she tripped.

Draco chuckled. "Parkinson, when will you learn?"

The pathetic figure in her Hogwarts robes got up again, and kept on running. 

At last, she reached them.

"Draco," she said sweetly, out of breath. "I was just wondering if you had reconsidered what you had said before, in the common room, about, well…" she looked at Hermione, and crinkled up her nose. Then she turned back to Draco. "What's she doing here?"

Draco eyed her coldly. 

Pansy smiled again. "So… you still think that you'd rather dance with a four-headed, smelly, filthy, fat, furry…" as she said each word, her shoulders drooped a little, and her face looked sadder. "Stinky, ugly, rotten, deadly monster than with me?"

Draco looked unshaken, "Yes,"

Pansy sniffed a few times. "Ok, look, I know that following you around all day and grabbing your feet once when you were walking was probably not the best way to-"

"It certainly wasn't,"

"To get you to dance with me, but, _please_ Draco!"

"No,"

Pansy got on her hands and feet. "Just one small, measly dance,"

Hermione was uncomfortable. Pansy was in front of Draco, as if worshiping him, and Draco was glaring at her. And, Hermione thought, if he was glaring at _me_ like that, I'd probably run off screaming.

Pansy must've been really used to it, though, because she just smiled and begged.

In the meantime, Hermione finished writing, and stood up.

"Well, I'm done,"

"Good," Pansy said. "Then you can leave us alone now,"

That made Hermione mad. Partly because she did _not_ want to leave Pansy and Draco alone together, and partly because she hated to be talked to that way. 

She frowned and started walking away.

But Draco stepped next to her after a moment of struggling with Pansy, and leaving the poor girl alone under the tree, and drowning in tears.

Not that he cared.

Hermione did, though. "Aren't you being a little harsh on her?"

He decided to answer by a sarcastic question. "Is McGonagall dating Snape?"

Hermione smiled at his sarcasm.

They reached the Entrance Hall. 

"Bye!" Hermione said, going up the marble stairs. "Hey, maybe I'll see you in the masquerade,"

Draco almost smiled at her ignorance, but stopped himself just in time. "I'm sure you will," 

Hermione watched as he turned the corner before keeping on climbing the staircase. 

When she got to the common room, she found Harry and Ron playing wizard chess, so she settled in beside them.

"Who's winning?" she asked pointlessly, as Ron's queen destroyed Harry's knight. 

"Who do you think?" Harry asked irritably. He hated when people came over to ask that.

After a moment watching them, she stood up. 

"I'm going to get ready for the masquerade," she informed them, as she went upstairs.

"Hermione," Ron said, gaping at her. "You have three more hours!"

"I have to curl my hair," Hermione whispered. "Any maybe even get a new dress." 

She had only told Harry and Ron about her plan. They seemed to have gone along with it.

Harry, though, had noticed something weird about her dancing partner. He'd watched them all throughout the masquerade yesterday. The silver-blond hair, the way he walked and moved. But he hadn't smirked or sneered. In fact, he had looked, well… weird. 

Harry couldn't tell what his face showed. It wasn't easy to read his face at all.

He really had thought it was Draco at first, but seeing no smirk or sneer or his two huge bodyguards with him, he was confused. But he'd keep an eye on them today, too. If he saw something mysterious about his behavior, he'd tell Hermione that he _might_ be Malfoy.

"What're you thinking about?" Ron demanded, and his queen destroyed Harry's last bishop. 

Harry hadn't told Ron about his suspicions. Who knew how Ron would react? 

"Nothing," Harry said.

***

Harry, Ron, Lavender and Hermione walked through the lighted path that led to the ship. 

Harry had to admit that Hermione looked pretty good. She was wearing a dark green satin dress. There was black embroidery twisting and turning all the way down it, and black trimmings. It had flared sleeves, and a black rounded neck line. 

She was struggling with it, though. She kept on tripping over her petticoats, and once fell flat on her face.

Ron couldn't help laughing as Harry helped her up. Later she kicked Ron so hard that he was still having trouble walking.

"Yesterday you didn't have this much trouble with your dress," Lavender observed.

Hermione smiled weakly. "This one has more petticoats… and it's kind of heavy." She looked at Lavender's soft pink dress. It was filled with ten petticoats, at least! "Don't know how you do it, Lavender, but-"

Lavender giggled. "I bewitched the skirt to make it feather-light."

Hermione stopped walking, and gaped at Lavender. She suddenly felt very stupid. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of it before? She was so wrapped up in seeing… _him_ again that she hadn't stopped to think for a moment!

She got out her wand and bewitched her skirt, too.

"Thanks, Lavender," she said as they kept on walking. It was very comfortable now. She couldn't believe that she didn't feel the weight of all the petticoats under her skirt.

Lavender smiled. "You're welcome."

They finally reached the ship. Lavender and Ron, acting like a gentleman, stepped in front of Harry and Hermione.

They opened the door.

"See you later," Hermione said, looking around as Harry went up the stairs to the landing.

Her brown eyes scanned the dancing floor, the upstairs landing, the food table, and even the table where all of the teachers sat.

But there was no sign of him.

She was just about to lose hope when she felt a tap on her bare shoulder, and turned around.

There he was, dressed the same as the day before, only today his shirt was white.

He smiled at her, took her hand, and kissed it. Something he had never done. 

Something he'd never dream of doing to a muggle born.

Hermione blushed, even if it was sort of hard to tell, since her mask covered part of her cheeks. 

Then they began dancing.

Harry was looking down at them from the landing. Was he Malfoy, or not? There was a glint in his eye, no doubt about it… but it wasn't an evil glint. Not even a mischievous glint. What was it?

He was really beginning to think that it _wasn't_ him, until a boy dressed in tights bumped into the food table, making him stuck his head in the glass holding punch. 

Hermione's partner smirked. And that smirk was so familiar, he had no doubt about it: He was Malfoy. 

He had to tell Hermione. What if dancing with her was just one of Draco's tricks? What if he was just planning to harm her? And how could he reach her? He looked at her again, wondering. 

The music got louder, and faster. Hermione, with all the other girls, twirled madly, and came back to their partners. When she did, Draco could see a glint in her eyes he had never see before. It was like fire.

They danced some more, Hermione moving gracefully, Draco steering, and both dancing perfectly. 

The song ended, and the dancers had a minute to breath until another fast song came on.

Harry watched as Hermione and Draco danced together, thinking how he could warn Hermione. 

But the answer was right in front of him.

All the girls suddenly changed partners for about five seconds, and then stepped to the next boy, danced with him for five seconds, and so on. Hermione went all around the dance floor this way, found her partner again, and stopped.

Harry quickly went down the stairs, and went towards the food table, where Ron and Lavender were standing.

He grabbed Lavender's hand and pulled her into the dance floor.

"Harry, what-"

"I'll explain later," Harry said. 

He danced with Lavender for a while, until it was turn for the girls to move around again.

He waited for Hermione, as he danced with a lot of girls. 

When Hermione grabbed Harry's arm, she recognized him immediately by his bright green eyes staring back at her.

"Harry!"

"I think I know who you're dancing with," Harry said quickly.

"What?"

He had no time to answer, though, because she had to change partners.

Frustrated, Harry clenched his teeth. 

Hermione danced with all the boys, and came back to where her partner was. What had Harry said? She hadn't quite heard him. 

Luckily, there was one more changing-partners session in the dance.

When it came, and she came face to face with his bright green eyes, she quickly asked, "What did you say?"

"I think you're dancing with-"

No time. She had to change partners. 

She danced with a series of boys, until she came back to her partner, finally.

She looked up at him. Harry knew who she was dancing with. His tone had been as if he were warning her about something.

So who could he be?

The song ended, and another fast one came on, and then another, and then yet another. 

For Hermione, it was a mad session of twirling, moving, using all of the dancing steps she knew, and sometimes making up new dancing steps. 

Draco was having a lot of fun. He liked the way Hermione moved, the way she looked up at him with eager brown eyes. 

So after another half hour, it wasn't a surprise to find Hermione exhausted. "Would you like to drink something?" she asked, out of breath, in hopes her partner would get the point.

"Sure," Draco answered, offering Hermione his arm. 

He still couldn't that he had showed up at all. He couldn't believe he had actually danced with Hermione. He couldn't believe that, even now he _knew_ it was Hermione, he still wanted to dance with her.

"Wait here," he said, as she sat on one of the tables. "While I get the drinks,"

Hermione waited, tapping her fingers gently on the table top, and staring around. 

Then Harry showed up. "Good thing I found you!" he said, sitting down across from her. "We have to talk," 

"What were you saying before?" Hermione asked. "You know who I'm dancing with?"

Harry's face turned serious. "Yes, I do."

"Who?" Hermione asked, a bit alarmed at Harry's tone of voice.

Draco showed up just then.

Both Harry and Hermione stared at him, and then at each other without saying a word.

But Draco wasn't stupid. He had noticed Harry following Hermione, and trying to tell her something urgent. And, by the way they both looked at him, he was sure he knew what it was.

His eyes glinted maliciously.

He would just have to keep Hermione away from Potter. Or never leave her side. Potter wouldn't dare tell her in front of him. At least, not now. Not while he still had a chance to dance with her without she knowing who he was.

He put a goblet full of punch in front of Hermione, and glared at Harry. There was no point in pretending with him. He knew who he was. 

Harry stood up slowly, staring fixedly at him.

Draco smirked, and took the now empty chair. 

Harry, after glaring at him, went up the stairs to the landing to resume his watching-for-the-enemy post. 

Hermione had noticed something had happened between the two boys, but decided not to say anything about it, and drink her punch.

Draco watched her. So she knew something was up. He'd get that Potter, no matter what.

After some uncomfortable minutes of silence, Draco decided to speak up. 

"So would you like to dance again?"

She smiled up at him. "Of course," 

It was a slow dance. Draco dragged Hermione closer to him, until there was barely an inch between them. 

As if afraid someone would take her away.

Harry was watching them closely, though. He had to tell Hermione! Draco would do anything to stop him, he was sure… he knew he wanted to tell Hermione. So it was back to fighting, as they had done in the previous five years.

Hermione looked into his gray eyes, wondering…

She was smart enough to know who he was, of course. The thing that blocked her from knowing was that she could never in her wildest dreams imagine she was dancing with _Draco_. She couldn't imagine that it was Draco who was looking at her so tenderly.

As she wondered, Harry was thinking of how he could talk to her alone.

But after they had danced three more times, and he was still watching them from the landing, and had absolutely no idea, he decided to do the rude thing: take Hermione away from him, and tell her.

He went down the stairs, and moved through a sea of huge skirts, until he found them. A song had just ended, and they were talking.

He approached them, quickly looked at Draco in the eyes, grabbed Hermione by the arm, and was soon dragging her away.

Draco watched as they went disappeared behind couples dancing, outraged. How dare he! 

He had to get to them before Potter said anything!

He desperately pushed people aside, keeping his eyes fixed on the door that led to deck. They had to be on deck! 

He didn't notice that a boy in tights was tripping over skirts, though, and was going straight for him. 

He didn't notice until he fell, of course. The boy had tripped over him, and they were now both sprawled on the floor.

Draco was about to say something rude and obnoxious to the stupid fool, when panic seized him: his mask was lying on the floor next to him.

For a moment, he didn't move. Panic kept him pinned to the floor. 

He recovered quickly, though, grabbed the mask, and put it on. Or at least he _tried_ to put it on, because he soon noticed that the string was broken.

Damn!

Had anyone noticed? 

He looked around, but everyone seemed to be peacefully talking or dancing.

He frantically tied it as best as he could, and made a wild dash for the door.

Draco pushed it open, and found Hermione and Harry staring back at him.

Harry looked furious, and Hermione looked blank. 

He wondered if Potter had told Hermione. He hoped he hadn't. For a while, they just stared at each other blankly, until he found it so disturbing that he did what he could think of first: make an excuse for his tumbling in on them.

"Er… Dumbledore's going to give a special announcement." 

Harry looked at him suspiciously, but Hermione took his arm, and they walked inside together. 

Harry clenched his fists. 

He had _almost_ told Hermione. He had had time enough to tell her. But she had looked so happy. He didn't want to ruin that… and when he had made up his mind, and was fumbling around with the words, Draco had come, and he had had no more time.

Hermione looked around, thinking Dumbledore might be standing up to give his announcement. 

But he wasn't. He wasn't even at the teacher's table. He was too busy dancing with Professor McGonagall.

"What announcement?" she asked.

"Must've already said it," Draco muttered.

Hermione looked awkwardly at him. She was a bit annoyed because both boys were dragging her from place to place, although she couldn't deny that she liked her dancing partner to follow her around and come take her away when she was talking with Harry.

It showed he was interested in her.

But she was also tired. After all, she had been dancing all night! And the masquerade was going to be over soon. 

She looked at the clock. 

Fifteen minutes to midnight.

In fifteen minutes everything would be over: the happiness she had felt, the dancing… she didn't even know who he was! How could she spend more time with him if she wouldn't even recognize him in the hallways? 

They had time for one more dance.

A slow song came on, and both Draco and Hermione enjoyed it as much as they could, for they knew it would be their last.

Throughout those minutes, everything else faded away, and they were only aware of each other. Of where their hands met, on each other's eyes. Draco could feel the heat coming from Hermione, and her silky smooth skin. She could feel his caring for her by the way he held her. 

They were both disappointed when the song ended and they had to step away from each other.

Then everyone looked at the teachers' table, where Dumbledore was sure to give some kind of announcement.

But there was no Dumbledore. At least, not at the teachers' table. He was on the dancing floor, dancing away with Professor Sprout.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall called. "I remind you that the masquerade has almost ended! Please come up here!"

Dumbledore stopped dancing, and looked at Professor McGonagall. At first he seemed lost, as if not knowing what he was wanted for, but then he smiled. 

"Ah, yes, thank you, Minerva," and started walking towards the teachers' table, chuckling. Professor Sprout trailed behind.

"Well!" Dumbledore said, once beside Professor McGonagall. "The masquerade has come and gone!"

Hermione sadly nodded. 

"And I hope you all had fun, as that was what the masquerade was intentioned for. And, before going to bed, and to end the masquerade, I must ask you all to remove your masks."

Draco went numb. Did Dumbledore just say they had to _remove their masks_? 

Everyone else was taking off theirs, so he supposed so. But… No! He had no idea this was going to happen! Everything would be ruined! If he had known this, he would've never showed up, never even bothered to dance with Hermione. She would know who he was… there was no way he was taking off his mask. He had to get away.

So, silently, he started to slip away, towards the door. He walked through the mass of people unnoticed, and stepped on deck. He had almost reached the stairs when he felt a hand grip his arm. He turned around and saw Hermione. She had taken off her mask, and was looking specially pretty. He looked away.

"Please take off your mask," she said softly. "I've taken off mine, see?" she stopped talking for a moment, but then went on. "I really, really want to know who you are, specially since I had such a good time with you."

Draco wanted to talk to her, to make her understand that he just _couldn't_ take his mask off. That there was no way he would do it. That she really didn't want to know who he was. He turned his head roughly to face her, and felt a snap at the back off his head. He watched in horror as his mask fell onto the floor between Hermione and himself.

Hermione's eyes opened wide, and she looked at him with a very shocked expression, as if she had just seen Lord Voldermont himself. Her mouth dropped open, and Draco just wanted to run away from her.

She finally found her voice. "_Draco_?"

He pulled away roughly. "Yes, it's me, Granger!" he exclaimed and, not knowing what to do, he went down the stairs and ran towards the castle, leaving Hermione to stare after him for a very long while, even after he was inside the castle, even as people started climbing down the stairs. 

Harry, Ron, and Lavender stopped next to her. 

Harry put a hand on her shoulder. "I tried to tell you."

Hermione looked at neither of them. She looked down at the floor and saw Draco's black mask lying there. She bent down, picked it up, and looked at it lying on her hand as the moonlight shone on it. Then she closed her hand around it.

"Draco…" she whispered.

******

Ok. I got carried away with the masquerade, and tried not to make it too cheesy. And I wasn't going to describe every single dance, so I just skipped them, as you noticed ^^ so what did you think of it??? Review or my mad hamster _will_ eat you!


	9. Chapter 9

Well, here's the 9th chapter! Lol. 

A frequently asked question: Where did you get the idea for the masquerade??? 

The answer: Well, I read lots of fantasy books based in Medieval Europe, and watch movies also based in Medieval Europe. In lots of those books and movies there are usually exciting dances, and some of them are masquerades. And since I love the whole Medieval thing, and I LOVE suspense, drama, and mystery all combined together, and in lots of masquerades there's just that, I thought that it would be cool to have one in my fan fiction. 

I thought about having one in music class, when my teacher put on some dramatic music and my mind started imagining things (as usual) and then somehow Hermione in a medieval dress dancing with Draco popped up in my head, so I said, Hey! I have an idea! Lol. That's basically it ^_^

Sorry I took longer than usual to update, but my computer's breaking a lot lately… so you'll have to excuse the silly thing, ok? Lol. 

253 reviews!!!! Woot woot!! Lol, a MILLION thanks to: aznlady, Aphrodite, caroline, StarJade, justfordraco99, KeeperOfTheMoon, GerHPfa, Krystal, Fae Magick, Sarah, VenusDeOmnipotent, *Karly*, EclipseKlutz, Jen Drake, dazed*kitten, DracoMalfoy, SVZ, DracosGirlMayaka, Pudmuffin, Gliniel of Tirragen + Malfoy, Mystic Dragon, Hyper_shark, Bob, fb90, YingRui, Suzanne, Crystalline Lily, Eloria, Jasmine, RiaKatKar, DraCo4evr, HP #1 Fan, Silver Fawkes, fawkes, Cho Chang, DragonWings, S-Star, jupi, Hermione18, mainey, jokester15, The Charmed One, and Starry Skies!!!!

Hermione lay in bed, staring out the window into the starry night. 

She couldn't sleep.

She kept on thinking about what had just happened

She still couldn't believe that she had danced with Draco.

And as she looked at a twinkling star, she still couldn't picture how Draco could've acted like that. Looking at her so tenderly, dancing with her, twirling her around, kissing her hand, following after her whenever Harry took her away, apologizing for something he hadn't done…

But then again, he hadn't known who she was.

Wait.

He _had_ known who she was!

At the end of the first ball, she had told him his name!

Oh, no.

She closed her eyes and breathed in. 

But why had Draco wanted to dance with her even after knowing who she was? It made no sense. Draco would _never_ do it!

Or would he? Yes. He would. To make fun of her!

She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling.

Draco, on the first ball, had probably seen her and had wanted to dance with her to make Pansy jealous, to look good because he was dancing with someone, and so his two stupid friends would think he was the greatest, the smartest, the best. 

And, when he had found out who she was, another bonus point was added to his plan: to give a girl false hopes! He was probably laughing now at her now, thinking how easily it was to fool her!

But then she thought about Draco's face when his mask fell off. His eyes had reflected a mixture of anger, fear, and… hurt?

Of course! Anger of being discovered, because he didn't want a _mudblood _following him around, thinking he had some feelings towards her. Fear because, if someone from Slytherin found out he had been dancing with a _mudblood _they'd laugh at him! But… she couldn't place the hurt part.

What did it matter anyway? She had made a complete fool out of herself!

She looked out the window again, and a tear ran down her cheek.

She had really thought that Draco had changed, that he was becoming nicer.

But she guessed she was wrong.

***

Harry and Ron could definitely tell Hermione was in a bad mood. She frowned at them whenever they tried to cheer her up with a joke, snapped at them whenever they interrupted her when she was reading or doing her homework, and she kept at glaring at the box in which she kept Bluey all comfy with a bed, a potty, and some food. 

Harry regretted not having told her that she was dancing with Draco, and Ron was furious because no one had told him about this piece of news until yesterday, and also because that stupid Malfoy had fooled Hermione completely. 

So when it was time for another "Joggart Meeting," Hermione refused to go, and just sat on the common room couch with a book.

Harry and Ron walked over to her. 

"Hermione," Harry said. "You have to go."

She glared at him over her copy of _Fowls of Fortune_. "And make a fool out of myself _again_?" she asked irritably. "I don't think so." 

Now Ron tried to help. "If he does anything to you, you could just slap him again, like you did on our third year!" he said enthusiastically, remembering that sweet moment. 

"I said I'm not going!" she snapped. 

"How about if Ron and I keep a close watch on you?" Harry suggested. "So he doesn't do anything?"

"It's not about you keeping a watch on me!" Hermione rose her voice. "I just don't want to see him!"

Ron would've dropped it there, but Harry knew that Hermione would have to face Draco sooner or later. 

"But you have to do the report," Harry reminded her. "You don't want Hagrid disappointed, do you? You _do_ want to write down Bluey's every change in detail, don't you?"

Ron stared at him, mouth hanging open. 

After a moment of silence, Hermione said, "I don't want to,"

But she didn't say it in a very decided tone of voice. It was more like whining. 

"You have to do the report," Harry insisted.

"And you can tell Malfoy that he's a real idiot for fooling you!" Ron piped up.

Hermione sighed, set aside her book, and stood up. "Fine, I'll go. I'm five minutes late anyway," 

She snatched a parchment, a quill, and Bluey, and left.

***

When she got to the Entrance Hall, she saw that Draco wasn't there. 

She was relieved for not having to face him again, and was just about to turn back when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hermione,"

Draco's voice. How dare he touch her? She turned around and face him, ready to demand an explanation for his behavior, but she found she couldn't do it. She just blushed as the masquerade's events came back to her, and turned away.

Draco stood in silence. 

She was mad. He had made her angry.

Maybe he should've explained everything when his mask fell off. But he had just ran away like a coward. 

But, then again, what was there to explain? _He_ didn't even know the answer of why he had danced with her after knowing who she was!

"We should better get going," Draco said, and started walking outside.

After a minute of hesitation, Hermione followed. It was cloudy and cold, so she rubbed her hands together and blew on them.

When they sat on the freezing grass under the tree, no one said a word. She set Bluey next to her, and reached into her pocket to get the writing materials, but stopped. 

Last night she had put Draco's mask in her cloak pocket, and there it was. She slowly brought out the black mask, looked at it for a minute, and handed it to Draco without looking at him.

"Your mask," she said briefly. 

He took it, and looked at her. She was so cold towards him.

Hermione got out a parchment and a quill, and started writing down. Bluey had grown quite a bit, and it was now the same size as Draco's hand. His feet were fatter, and it had small claws. The black dot on his belly was bigger.

But after the minutes went by, and the only sound was her quill dancing around the parchment, she couldn't take it, and took a deep breath.

"Did you know it was me?" she asked simply. 

He had been dreading this question.

"Yes,"

Silence.

"Why?" she asked. "I mean… why didn't you tell me it was you?"

Draco thought about how to answer that one. He could easily tell her to buzz off, or just simply stay quiet and walk away. 

But not with Hermione. Hermione was different. She had been kind. She had listened to him. She didn't deserve his silence. 

She had every right to know.

"I thought you'd be disappointed," 

"Why would I be disappointed?" she asked.

"Because…" he started. "Maybe you were fantasizing about some Wonder Boy,"

Hermione hadn't expected any of these answers. He was supposed to say that he had been trying to be the best, to make someone jealous, to give false hopes to a girl. 

But, of course, he wouldn't say that! 

But Hermione was thoughtful. She had known Draco enough to know that he always said the truth. Or almost always.

But he looked serious. 

So he hadn't told her so she wouldn't be "disappointed"? 

In truth, Draco had told her because of that, and also because he didn't really know any other explanation.

He wouldn't admit to himself that he had _wanted_ to.

"I wasn't fantasizing about Wonder Boy," Hermione said. "I just wanted to know who I was dancing with."

"I'm sorry," Draco said awkwardly, although he meant it. "For not telling you."

Hermione stood in silence, thinking over this. He had apologized. He was sorry. She held the whip. She could accept his apology, or turn his back on him.

She smiled, and faced him. "Don't worry. Everything's forgiven and forgotten."

Draco felt that warm feeling at his chest again. He had never heard those words, but he liked them. They sounded beautiful.

To Hermione's surprise, he returned the smile. It was the first time she had seen him smile without a mask, and she liked it.

They both smiled at each other, and it was the beginning of an officially established friendship.

***

Some weeks went by, and they couldn't have been greater for Draco. When he saw Hermione in the corridors, he would wave, and she would wave back, smiling. They would talk more and more at the "Joggart Meetings," and more at ease. He could tell her anything from a current event to his worries about having to grow up to be a Death Eater, and some of the less violent stories of his childhood at home with his father.

She, in turn, would cheer him up by telling funny stories, comforting him, and listening. He was very amused when her eyes got big whenever he told one of his "Childhood Stories."

She was really happy they were getting along nicely, and that he trusted her enough to tell her all sorts of things. Sometimes she would tell him something serious, too, like her worries that her Transfiguration essay had been too short, or that Ron was getting too mischievous. At least to her they were serious, but sometimes she could see Draco fighting back a smile. She didn't feel stupid or bad, though, because she liked to cheer him up. Besides, if he chuckled, he would apologize and say that yes, he took her seriously, but it had been funny, in a good way. 

He had a way of making her feel good, as she had a way of making him feel good.

One specially cold December day they sat under the tree, making notes about the Joggart. The ground was freezing, and Hermione tried to write as fast as she could.

"So then," Hermione was saying. "Ron beat Harry at chess again, so Harry got annoyed." she shivered, and pulled her cloak closer around her body. "Ron was laughing hysterically. I mean, even if they're great friends, they like to annoy each other. Then Harry suggested going out to the quidditch fields. He said he'd show Ron that he could beat him at that," she shivered again, and moved closer to Draco for some warmth. 

Now that they were getting along, she knew Draco wouldn't mind. Or at least, she hoped he wouldn't. 

He didn't mind at all.

"Ron knows that Harry is better at quidditch than he is, just as Harry knows Ron is better at chess. But Ron can't say 'No' to a challenge or a dare, so he went along,"

She laughed. "Well, next thing you know, they're off in the quidditch field, racing and throwing tennis balls at each other," 

She shivered again, and wondered how Draco could stand so calmly next to her, as if they were in Spring. 

Hermione was really close to Draco now, and he could feel her shivering more and more frequently. 

Draco didn't know much about kindness, but he was learning from her. So, as Hermione got to the part where Ron fell off his broomstick, Draco was taking his cloak off. 

He put it around Hermione's shoulders, and she looked up, surprised.

He shrugged. "You were shivering hard,"

She quickly took his cloak off her. "No way," she said, handing it back to him. "I'm not going to let you freeze just because I'm shivering," 

"If you're shivering, you're cold," Draco said, without taking his cloak back. 

Hermione shook her head. "You'll freeze!"

"I won't," Draco said. "I'm not cold." 

It was true. He wasn't cold. He was used to it. The Slytherin common room wasn't exactly "warm and cuddly," and Malfoy Manor was never warm despite the numerous fireplaces it had. 

"How can't you be cold?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not," he insisted, and put it round her shoulders again. "Don't make me mad, and keep it on."

She looked doubtfully at him for a minute, but then gave up. "Ok. Thanks. But it's not my fault if you freeze to death!"

He smiled. "Ok. Just keep going with your story,"

***

Hermione walked inside the common room, humming a bit, and put Bluey inside his box. 

She turned around to find both Harry and Ron gaping at her. 

"What?" she asked.

"_What_," Ron said. "Are you doing with a _Slytherin_ cloak on?"

Hermione looked down at her cloak and saw that she had forgotten to give it back to Draco. There was a silver snake twisting around a green S at the right side. 

It reminded her of Draco. 

"Oh…" she said. "Well, Draco let me put it on, because I was cold,"

Ron stared at her blankly. Then he shook his head, still staring at her.

"What is it, Ron?" she asked.

"This is terrible," he said.

"What? Why?" Hermione asked.

"I can see it all now," Ron went on. He grabbed Hermione's arms. "First, he gives you his cloak. Then, he starts being nicer and nicer. Next thing you know, he's kissing you madly, and-"

Hermione snorted. "Yeah, that's going to happen," she said sarcastically. 

Ron ignored her. "And you work under a _tree_! Draco and Hermione, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-"

"Stop being silly, Ron!" Hermione yelled, blushing. "For God's sake, he let me borrow his cloak!"

"Sure, today it's his cloak," Ron muttered. "Tomorrow, who knows what he'll do?"

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione hissed, and stormed off into the girls' dormitories.

"Hermione!" Harry called. 

She walked back down, flushed. 

"Make sure no one sees that cloak," he said. "They'd think it was… strange,"

Hermione nodded. "Don't worry, I won't," she said, and went up the stairs again. 

She opened the door to her dormitory. 

It was empty. 

She sat down on her bed and examined the cloak closely. It was very clean. There wasn't a spot anywhere, and it seemed to be brand new.

She folded it and put in inside one of her drawers gently. 

She would give it to him tomorrow.

***

For their next Joggart Meeting, Hermione conjured up a fire so no one would have to sacrifice their cloaks. She had returned Draco his cloak two days ago, when she saw him on his way to potions. 

So today she waited at the Entrance Hall, looking out into the cloudy day. It was chilly, and the trees were bare. 

"Hi," Draco said, stepping next to her. 

"Hi," she answered, and started walking.

"A fire?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," she said cheerfully. "To keep us warm. Today, no one's going to freeze,"

Draco was tired of hearing her say that. He hadn't been _that_ cold!

Hermione sat down, gently putting the fire on the floor.

She was just getting out her writing materials, though, when it started snowing. 

Small, gentle snowflakes fell all around them. They stood in silence, watching it snow.

It was not until Bluey stirred by Hermione's hand, shaking off some snow, and blinked up at her, that she stood up.

"We better go," she said. 

"Yeah," Draco said, standing up also and getting the fire.

Hermione scooped Bluey up and put him in her pocket. Then she got the parchment and the quill and put them in her other pocket.

Then it started snowing harder. 

Hermione laughed, and started running towards the castle. 

Draco watched her go with mild interest. She reached the Entrance Hall and waited for him. 

When he got there, he said, "Hermione, snow doesn't bite,"

"I know that," she said, getting the snow out of her hair carefully. 

Draco sighed, put his hand on her head, and rubbed all the snow away. "Much quicker," he drawled. 

Then he started laughing, staring at her. 

For once, Hermione was hearing him laugh. 

But he was laughing at _her_!

"I would've rubbed my hair, too!" she exclaimed. "If _this_," she pointed at her hair. "Wouldn't happen,"

Hermione's hair was naturally bushy, but now that someone had rubbed it, it was ten times bushier, and her face looked small between all that hair puffing out. 

Draco calmed himself down, looked at her, and started laughing again.

Hermione eventually started laughing too, and sat down on the marble staircases. 

Draco sat next to her, chuckling. 

"Where are we going to work on the report now?" Hermione asked. 

"Here," Draco answered. 

"On the staircase?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Hermione shrugged. "Ok, sure."

So they started working, sharing jokes, comments, and stories. 

Draco loved to see her laugh, and Hermione loved to see him smile. 

So all they had to do was keep on talking cheerfully, which they did.

"Well," Hermione said, standing up. "I better go. I promised Harry and Ron I'd help them with the homework."

Draco nodded. "Alright. See you then,"

Hermione watched him head off into the dungeons, wishing that they would see each other very, very soon. 

***

Draco watched Hermione intently all throughout dinner. 

She talked with Potter and Weasley, laughed, and scolded. 

He watched as she poked Ron with her fork, while he laughed.

He watched while she talked with Harry.

He watched when she laughed at one of her friend's jokes.

And as he watched, he thought about how much he wanted to be with her. 

He wanted to be the one who was making her cheeks go red as she laughed. He wanted to be the one she was talking with so intently. And he even wouldn't have minded if she were pocking him with her fork, if it amused her.

"What are you looking at?" Pansy, who was sitting nearby, asked him curiously. 

When Draco didn't answer, she followed his gaze and saw Hermione.

"It's her again," she muttered angrily, but then turned to Draco. "Would you like some more potatoes, Draco?" she asked sweetly, passing him the plate.

Draco was forced to pay attention when she put the plate under his nose.

"Parkinson," he said coldly. "Shut up. I don't want any potatoes,"

And he watched Hermione again. 

She turned and looked at him. She smiled, and waved. 

He nodded his head, staring fixedly at her.

Then she turned to Ron, who said something, laughing.

She blushed and pushed him, making Neville, who was sitting next to him, topple over onto Sean. 

When dinner was over, and all the houses had to go into their common room, he watched her, on his way towards the dungeons, as she went up the stairs. 

Harry took her arm and whispered something, and she laughed.

He wished he could take her arm and whisper something to her, too. 

It was not until he was in the Slytherin common room, though, that he went over his dinner, and thought that he had acted very stupidly, following Hermione's every move. 

At least, he thought, he'd acted foolishily for a Slytherin. 

******

I'll end it there, lol. Well, since everyone was nice and reviewed with my mad hamster glaring at them, I'm happy ^_^ so I'll take the mad hamster away, but… beware of my sharp-toothed turtle if you don't want it to go straight for your nose!


	10. Chapter 10

Someone said that Draco was changing FAST. Well, lol, I know! The reason's because I just couldn't wait anymore!! Ack!! I want to write some fluff SOON!!! Lol. But before that happens, lots of other things will have to happen first… though I'll try to add fluff in between ^^ I mean, I can't just make Hermione fall into his arms all of a sudden. We have to go S-L-O-W-L-Y lol. Maybe it's a bit annoying (or a lot annoying) but then, when the cheesy parts come, they'll be more 

I'll try to make this chapter longer than the last, since some people told me the last one was too short. So, since I can't jump from friendship to love in ONE chapter, I'll have to do something in between!! I just hope I have enough ideas! 

Oh! And I forgot to answer a question about chapter 8: In the masquerade, wouldn't they have discovered each other by their voices?

Well, technically, yes. Maybe. But it wouldn't be exciting then! So I just made them a little dumb in those two chapters :D I mean, if they _had_ discovered each other, what would've been the fun about the masquerade?

287 reviews!!!! THANKS EVERYONE: Crystalline Lily, KeeperOfTheMoon, anty, StarJade, Suzanne, Blade Griffin, EclipseKlutz, Broken-Hermione, cheerchik113, Cho Chang, Dark Vampire, Silvermist, DolceExpressivo, empress twinx, dreamer, lil-sptifire, Gliniel of Tirragen + Malfoy, jokester515, Silver Fawkes, Jules, Hatokirei, *karli*, The Adorable Kitten Fluffy, Jubys, babmidnight, Brent, Starry Skies, fb90, Shelle, Nicole, and leogirl!!!

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

******

The following days Draco found himself staring at Hermione very often. 

He didn't know why. His eyes just seemed to fall upon her. 

He smiled at her frequently, too. 

But he was embarrassed, if not ashamed, of his behavior. What would his father think? What would all the Slytherins think if they knew he was being nice to her? What would they think if they knew that he _wanted_ to be nice to her?

They'd hate him. They wouldn't be scared of him anymore if they knew it. Everybody would laugh.

He'd just have to keep it a secret.

***

The next day, at breakfast, Ron was in for a surprise.

He, Hermione, and Harry were eating their bacon, chattering, when mail time came. 

Hundreds of owls filled the Great Hall, hooting madly and looking for the people to give their mail to. 

Hermione watched as Draco's eagle owl flew straight onto Draco's outstretched arm, and delivered a package. 

She was distracted by Ron, though. 

"What the hell?" Ron said, looking strangely at a brown owl that had landed right in front of him. It stretched its leg, where it had a small package attached, and hooted softly. 

Ron got the package, and the owl left.

"Open it, Ron!" Hermione urged him, intrigued. 

Ron held the small package in his hand, looking at it.

"What?" Hermione asked, looking at it too. "Oh," 

The brown paper that the package was wrapped around with had red hearts all over it.

Hermione started giggling. 

Harry was looking at the package strangely, too.

"Well, open it!" Hermione insisted.

Ron started unwrapping it slowly, something he never did. He opened the lid of the carton box, and out came a broomstick no bigger than Ron's index finger. The stick was lavender, and the twigs and straws at the end of it were brown. It floated above Ron's hand.

"Cool," he said, smiling.

"Ron, you've got yourself an admirer!" Harry said, grinning and holding the heart-covered wrapping paper.

Ron hit him with his elbow. 

"Yeah, you do!" Hermione teased. 

Ron shrugged. "Well, I like the broomstick,"

Hermione rolled her eyes. 

"It's kind of cute, actually," Harry said.

Hermione looked at it. A lavender stick… brown twigs… 

Lavender Brown.

She looked at Lavender, who was sitting between Parvarti and Neville. 

She was looking straight at Ron, blushing.

__

Well, Hermione thought. _I really am a very good match maker_!

Then she looked at the boys again. They didn't seem to know who had sent it. Well, she wasn't going to tell them. It was a thing Ron would have to find out himself.

When breakfast was over, Hermione gathered her things. "Come on," she said. "It's potions,"

Harry groaned, and went after her. Ron followed, looking at the broomstick that floated in front of him.

"Who could have sent it?" Ron asked as they walked towards potions. "I mean, a lavender and brown broomstick?"

Harry shrugged. "Don't know,"

Hermione rolled her eyes again. How could they be so clueless? 

They waited at the corridor outside the potions classroom, resting on the "Gryffindor Wall". Hermione smiled at Draco as they passed by and he nodded, as he did when Slytherins surrounded him. Hermione didn't mind much, because she could imagine that Slytherins could be really cruel.

After a while, Snape showed up in his usual silent manner. He walked silently to the door, and opened it. 

The class poured in, and everyone took their seats. 

Hermione sat next to Harry and Ron, and began getting her materials out. 

Harry, after staring at the small broomstick, which was floating above the desk in front of Ron, got his materials out, too. 

Ron seemed to be really concentrated on his gift, though, because he didn't look up when Snape stood in front of him, watching him silently. 

Harry was glaring at Snape, and Hermione nudged Ron. 

"What?" Ron asked.

"Mister Weasley," Snape said in a deadly whisper. "What's that on your desk?"

Hermione looked away. 

__

Oh, no.

She looked at Lavender. She was pale, and was looking at where Ron and Snape were standing with her eyes full of fright.

"I believe it is a toy," Snape went on. "And toys aren't allowed in my class. I shall have to confiscate it. Ten points from Gryffindor," 

Snape took the tiny broomstick in his hand, and put it in the drawer of his desk while the Slytherins snickered.

Hermione quickly glanced at Draco. 

He was looking at her. 

She was glad he wasn't laughing along with the rest.

"And now," Snape said, looking at the class with beady eyes, "We will continue with the lesson,"

***

Hermione felt very sorry for Lavender. All throughout their classes, she seemed not to pay attention. She was pale, and no matter how much Parvarti tried to comfort her, she wouldn't calm down.

Harry and Ron both noticed that Hermione was more serious than usual as they made their way towards the Gryffindor common room that day. 

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Oh, I don't know!" she said sarcastically, a bit too loud. "Maybe it's just that Snape confiscated your gift!"

Harry and Ron looked at each other in utter surprise.

"Er… Hermione? I thought you'd be _glad_ Snape confiscated it! After all," Ron said, and put a very high and squeaky voice. "Toys aren't allowed, Ron, so I'm not surprised Snape took it away. You're _so_ immature!"

Hermione glared at him. "Normally, yes, I wouldn't have approved of your bringing a toy to class, but today it wasn't your fault! You had no choice, right? I mean, the broomstick just floated alongside you. But there's other people involved in it too, like-" she stopped. She had almost told them who had sent it.

"Like…?" Harry urged her.

"No one," Hermione muttered. 

Ron eyed her curiously. "Do you know who sent it?"

"No! Rodent Rice!"

The portrait swung open, and the three of them climbed inside.

"I'm sure you know who it is," Ron said. "You're always solving tricky puzzles and finding out all sorts of stuff. Now who is it?"

"I don't know!" Hermione insisted.

"Yes, you do!"

"I don't," she lied. "And stop asking, because I'm not saying anything."

Ron stared at her furiously. "Fine!" he said. "I thought it would only be fair if I knew who had sent that to _me_!" 

And he did something Hermione often did: storm off into the dormitories.

Hermione sighed, and turned to Harry. "Was I too harsh again?" 

Harry looked at her, afraid of what to say. It wasn't easy to contradict Hermione at all. At least, if there was no one around to help him.

"Well…" Harry started, and then gave up. "I don't know,"

Hermione looked down at the floor sadly. "I don't know either," she admitted softly. Then she turned around and walked slowly towards the girls' dormitories.

***

A while later, she was getting ready to go the "Joggart Meeting", getting her materials out of one of her drawers, when Lavender, who was reading on her bed, stood up and walked towards her.

"Hermione," she said, looking at her intently. She sounded frantic. "I- I think you should know something. About Ron. About the…the broomstick," she turned red.

"I already know," Hermione admitted. 

Lavender blushed harder. "Yeah, well… I wanted Ron to know who sent it. So it's lavender and brown. Did he find out?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Oh…" Lavender bit her bottom lip. "Well… don't help him, for now. I want him to find out for himself,"

"Ok," Hermione said.

"But…" Lavender looked down, and grabbed Hermione's arm. "Oh, Hermione! Ron could get in serious trouble!" 

"What?" Hermione exclaimed, alarmed at Lavender's tone of voice. "Why?"

"Because…" Lavender breathed in. "Because, after about six hours after receiving the broomstick, it was programmed so the lavender stick would open up, revealing a folded map of some secret tunnels around Hogwarts,"

Hermione gasped. "What?" she asked again.

"I know," Lavender said, nodding sadly. "If Snape sees it…"

"I've got to warn Ron!" Hermione said, heading for the door.

"No, don't!" Lavender stopped her. "Who knows what he'd do?" she asked anxiously. "Ron could walk right into potions class and snatch it, specially because he'd do anything to get his hands on one of those maps, and that'd be really dangerous. I told you because… I thought you might know a way of getting it back. If you tell me what to do, I'll do it," 

She sounded desperate.

Hermione thought about Harry's invisibility cloak. Ron could easily put it on, and slip into the dungeons. But what if Snape was sitting at the desk? What if he was inside the room? He'd find it very suspicious if, all of a sudden, a drawer mysteriously opened up. Besides, he knew about Harry's invisibility cloak. He could reach out and he'd see Ron.

It was way too risky. 

First, they had to know if Snape would be inside to make up a plan.

And there was only one person who would know.

***

"So do you think I was too harsh?" she asked anxiously some minutes later, sitting at the foot of the stairs with Draco. 

Draco was silent for a moment, thinking of what to say. Then he shook his head. "No. I think it's normal," 

__

It happens to me, too, he thought, _All the time._

Hermione smiled, relieved. She felt much better now that she had told someone. Draco had listened very well, and he looked as if he really meant what he had said.

"Well…" Hermione started. She wanted to get straight to the point now. "Do you know if Snape is inside potions class in the afternoons?"

"Why?" He asked, staring at her.

This was the part Hermione didn't quite want to answer. "Well… as you know, someone sent Ron-"

"Lavender,"

"How do you know?" 

Draco raised an eyebrow. "You're not the only one smart around here,"

Hermione smiled. He had said she was smart.

"Yes. Well, Lavender said that…" she looked at him. Could she trust him? His gray eyes were fixed on her brown ones. Yes. She could trust him. "That, after around six hours of receiving the broomstick, the stick was supposed to open up, revealing a map of secret tunnels inside Hogwarts,"

Draco couldn't help but smirk. "Oh, Weasley, you fool…"

Hermione frowned slightly, and Draco stopped. "If Snape sees it, Ron's in trouble." she concluded.

"And why do you want to know if Snape is inside the classroom?" he asked.

"I was thinking that, if he wasn't, I could get it," she answered.

She wouldn't let Ron do it. He could be very careless at times. 

Harry would be stubborn, and would go down himself to retrieve it. That wasn't a good idea, either, because Snape already hated him, and if he found out, Harry would be in trouble.

And she couldn't put Lavender in such a risky mission.

So she would do it herself. It's not like Snape was on good terms with her, but at least she had a clean record.

She waited for Draco's answer.

Draco, meanwhile, was thinking. 

From what Hermione had told him, and from what he'd heard, he knew that she would do anything -even risk her life- for her friends. For example, on her first year, she had gone with Harry and Ron to help to retrieve the philosopher's stone. On her third year, she had gone back in time and she and Harry had managed to save Sirius' life. 

He knew she would do it.

He wouldn't let her. Snape disliked her greatly, and if he caught her, she was in trouble.

"Yes, he is inside the classroom in the afternoons," Draco answered.

Her shoulders drooped a little.

"I'll do it," he said decidedly. 

Hermione looked up at him, her brown eyes wide. "No,"

"Yes,"

She shook her head. "No!"

"Look," Draco said, trying to calm her down. "It's better that way. Snape gets along with me. I could just pretend I need a little help with something, and snatch it somehow."

"How?" Hermione demanded.

"Er…"

"For a Slytherin, you sure don't know about cunning plans," she teased.

"I'm thinking," he muttered.

"Well," Hermione said, setting aside her parchment, which almost hit Bluey. "I might as well help you,"

Draco looked at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean," Hermione said. "That I have a plan."

***

After some quick thinking, and some speedy rummaging through Harry's trunk, Hermione was at the foot of the stairs again, waiting for Draco.

He came soon enough, holding some potions materials. 

"Got it?" Draco asked.

She nodded, and showed him the invisibility cloak.

"I didn't know Potter had one of these," he muttered, touching the silky material yearningly. 

They started walking towards the dungeons. 

"Thanks again for offering to do this," she said.

"I don't know if I should have volunteered," Draco said, almost whining. "It could ruin my reputation."

Hermione smiled at him, and that was all the reasurance he needed.

She knew this was hard for him, so she was really grateful. 

They reached the corridor in which the classroom was located. 

"Ready?" Hermione asked.

Draco nodded.

"All right," she got the cloak and put it around her, disappearing from sight. "Let's go!"

Draco started walking towards the door, a bit annoyed because he didn't know where Hermione was.

"Where are you?" he muttered. 

He felt a small poke at his arm. "Here,"

He opened the door, and looked at the teacher's desk, where Snape was sitting.

Snape watched him awkwardly. "What is it, Draco?"

"I was wondering if you could explain something, sir," he said. 

Hermione had to admit that he acted very well. She knew this was hard for him, since he was really smart and would never have to ask a teacher anything.

"Sure, Draco," Snape said, as Draco stepped closer to him. 

"It's about these herbs, sir," he said, taking out little green herbs out of a small bag.

"What about them?"

Hermione had never seen Snape act so calmly. It was like a miracle.

"I don't quite remember if I should add them to the cauldron only if they're cut out in exact same shapes," Draco said. "Or if I should add them after _these_," he took out another type of herbs. 

"Neither," Snape said. "You should only add them after the perfectly chopped blue ice herbs,"

Hermione smiled to herself. Draco already knew this, of course, and so did she.

"I'm afraid I don't have those," Draco said. "I ran out,"

Now Snape _really_ looked at him awkwardly with beady eyes. Draco Malfoy, running out of something? 

"It was, of course," Draco said in an obnoxious voice. "After some bloody idiot spilled his cauldron all over my ingredients, and now I can't use them." he sighed dramatically. "Father's busy, so he'll send me the ice herbs tomorrow. But tomorrow it'll be too late, as we have to hand it in,"

"That won't be a problem," Snape said, getting up. "I'll lend you some," he walked towards the other end of the room, looking in some drawers.

This was the moment they were waiting for.

Draco quickly opened the drawer at the teacher's desk. There it was.

A small lavender and brown broomstick. The stick had opened up a bit, and a paper was poking out.

He saw as it magically rose into the air, and disappeared.

Of course, it was just Hermione getting it and putting it under the cloak.

He felt a hand grip his arm. "Thanks," a voice whispered. 

And that was the only thing that sustained him as he listened to Snape explain the lesson that he perfectly knew over again. 

***

Hermione waited for him outside, still under the invisibility cloak, examining the map. As soon as she had taken the piece of parchment out, the broomstick had returned to normal.

She watched the thin, black lines on the paper that represented hallways and tunnels, the sketches that represented statutes, staircases, and other things, and read the passwords that were written next to some objects.

Ron would love this, although she thought it wasn't proper for him to have it, since he'd want to go exploring at once, and could get into trouble.

After some more waiting, Draco came out, looking arrogant.

She took the invisibility cloak off, and he gave a little yelp.

She laughed. "It's just me!"

"I didn't know you were waiting," he said.

Then his face turned to the one he dedicated to Hermione only. She guessed the arrogant one was for people not to ask him what he had been doing inside the potions classroom. 

"Thanks again," she repeated.

"I only did it for you," he muttered. "Not for that Weasley. Don't you dare say anything to him,"

She nodded. "Alright. I'll make up some story."

"Well, see you tomorrow," he said. They had reached the stairs that led to the hallways upstairs. Hermione would climb them, and then climb the marble staircases.

He would keep on walking through the dark, damp tunnels until he reached his common room.

"Yeah," she said, climbing the staircases. "And, Draco?"

He looked at her.

"Thanks,"

"Stop thanking me," he said, trying to ignore the warm feeling at his chest. 

She smiled. "Fine. See you tomorrow, then,"

And she disappeared from view.

********

I don't really like this chapter. I'm not satisfied of the way it came out. I don't think it was well written. *sigh* oh well, the next one will be better!! 


	11. Chapter 11

Well! I finally got this chapter out!! It was really fun to write, actually ^_^ We're getting closer to the fluff!!! And Christmas is almost here, in Hogwarts!!! Woot woot! Lol. Yeah, I'm happy :D And thanks for the flames that some people sent! I used them to warm myself up, because I have a little cold! *atchu* 

And for all of those who told me to e-mail them back, don't worry, I promise I will!! Ok? It's just that lately I'm busy with homework and tests, and I have to fit the story-writing into my schedule. But I promise I'll write! Just be patient with me…

333 reviews!!! *does the happy 333 reviews dance* THANK YOU!!!! Thanks to: KeeperOfTheMoon, -=notti_gal=- , DracosGirlMakayla, paw-'O'-print, Shivohnsonqbreeze, blithely-imagine, Emily, EclipseKlutz, DracoMalfoy, Gliniel of Tirragen + Malfoy, Kate, Marille, VanillaStar, Milk, GerHPfa, Zubie, tainted black, LuvCr84TomFelton, cheerchik113, Chirista, Chibi Videl San, The Adoorable Kitten Fluffy, Brent, Hermione18, TriGemini, Hatokirei, Jokester515, Blade Griffin, YingRui, Cho Chang, Starry Skies, dancing dolphin, tom felton's babe, lil-spitfire, SVZ, leogirl, kianhpotter, waterdemon900, Jen, slytherins-undercover, Jessica, fdfgfdfdfdsfdfgfsg (didn't understand a word of that review, lol) Crystalline Lily, and Kristi!!!! I love you guys!!

Thanks specially to Jessica, because she gave me an idea in her review!! ^_^ I knew how I was going to do it, but I liked her idea much better, and I used it in this chapter!! Thanks a lot, Jessica!!!

And lots of people are saying that Draco's changing fast, and here comes Milk. Thanks for your review!! I couldn't have said it better myself: I don't think you're going too fast at all since sometimes love just hits you suddenly and you wake up loving someone.  
Yeah, that was my point ^_^

And, lol, thanks Brent for printing my story!! Yeah, that was a crazy thing to do, but we all do crazy things, don't we?

******

Hermione climbed the portrait hole, and dashed upstairs without being seen by Harry and Ron, who were talking on one of the best couches near the fire. 

It was almost dinnertime, and she still had to put Harry's cloak back in his trunk. She pushed the door to the boys' dormitories slowly, and peeked inside. 

It was empty except for Neville reading on his bed.

She walked inside, and headed for Harry's trunk.

"Hermione!" Neville gasped. "You scared me!"

"Why?" Hermione asked, opening the trunk.

"Because you only invade this room at Christmas morning," he replied, looking at her over his book.

"Yeah, well…" Hermione stood up, having just put the cloak back in place. "I come more often now,"

She left quickly, leaving a blinking Neville behind. She entered her dormitory, to find Lavender sitting on her bed.

"What did Malfoy say?" Lavender asked frantically. 

Hermione grinned, and took out the small lavender and brown broomstick from one pocket, and the map from the other.

Lavender gasped. "What! How…?"

Hermione laughed. "I got it!"

"How did you get it?"

Hermione didn't like to lie. She would've gladly told Lavender what had really happened, and she would've given Draco all the credit he deserved… but had told her not to tell anyone.

"I went to the dungeons and, well… Snape wasn't there, so I just opened his drawer and took it out," she lied.

"You shouldn't have!" Lavender exclaimed. "That's a dangerous thing to do! And a brave one, too."

Hermione's stomach squirmed. It was Draco who had done it, not her. She wasn't supposed to be given that sort of praise. 

Then Hermione felt the small broomstick wiggle in her hand. 

"Hey!" she exclaimed, as it moved furiously inside her closed fist.

Lavender giggled. "It's detected Ron,"

"What?" Hermione asked, grabbing her hand and trying to keep it still.

"The broomstick will follow Ron everywhere," Lavender explained. "It didn't follow him at potions because Snape put it inside a drawer, and it couldn't sense Ron in such a closed up space. But now it can,"

Hermione unclenched her fist, and a lavender and brown blur shot out of it, towards the closed door. It hit it, and bounced back. The broomstick stopped, as if recovering, and then hit the door again, and again. 

Lavender sighed. "It wants Ron," she said, and then added silently as she opened the door. "And so do I,"

The broomstick flew down the stairs and out of sight.

"I'll give him the map," Hermione said, as she heard Ron and Harry cry out in astonishment from the common room.

She went down the stairs and found her two friends looking at the broomstick, which was floating on top of Ron's knees.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed as she sat down next to him. "How did it get here?"

Hermione smiled. "I got it," she lied again. "Look what was inside it!" she gave him the map.

Ron surveyed it, as if making sure of what it was. Then his face lit up, and he grinned. "I've always wanted one of these!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe… I can't believe I have one! Was it really in the broomstick? How's you get it back?"

"I sneaked inside potions class, and snatched it back,"

"Wow! Thanks, 'mione!"

Harry didn't say anything, though. He was examining Hermione's face. He had known her for six years now, and he knew she was lying. That was a fake smile. Her face wasn't relaxed. She seemed nervous.

She glanced at him quickly, and saw his solemn face. Then she turned away, and looked down at the floor, biting her bottom lip.

So she _was_ lying. 

He'd find out one way or another.

***

As if Ron's surprise hadn't been enough, they had another one awaiting for them at dinner.

The Great Hall was chattering enormously, when Dumbledore stood up. It took a few seconds for everyone to be quiet as they looked up at him with wondering eyes.

He smiled, and his eyes twinkled behind his half-moon shaped spectacles. "I have a special announcement to make," he said. "We wanted to wait until the last minute to tell you, so it would be like a Christmas surprise, since Christmas vacation is only a week away," he paused for effect. "So, it is my pleasure to announce that this year in Hogwarts we will hold a Christmas Ball,"

Ron started choking on his sausage, and everyone started talking at once.

As soon as Dumbledore had said those words, though, Hermione's eyes seemed to travel, for no apparent reason, towards Draco.

And he was looking at her.

They both turned away as Dumbledore spoke up again over all the noise. "We thought it would only be fair, as we had a Halloween masquerade."

When Ron recovered, and drank from his goblet, he turned to Harry and Hermione. "Ok," he said, pointing at Dumbledore. "He's overdoing it now,"

"And he tells us a _week_ before Christmas holidays?" Harry asked. 

He had been silent all this time, and Hermione was wondering if he had noticed that she hadn't been telling the truth. 

She shrugged. "He wanted it to be a surprise,"

"A surprise!" Ron exclaimed, banging his fist on the table and almost smashing his broomstick. "Well, it's _so_ a surprise that I won't find anyone to go with me!" he glared at the broomstick, which was floating on top of his peas. "And this thing is starting to annoy me," he said, waving his fork at it.

"Why don't you try Lavender?" Hermione asked him casually.

"Nah, I don't think she'd go with me," he took a bite out of his chicken. "She probably found me a 'great bore' and won't be going with me again,"

Hermione sighed. "Just try, ok?"

"Say, 'mione," Ron said, looking at her. "Why don't you ask her and save me the humiliation of getting dumped in the face?"

"No," Hermione answered. "It's your problem. I'm not going around acting like a match maker."

"Oh, come on!" Ron insisted.

"No," she said, a bit louder, and settling the matter.

Ron groaned, and continued eating. She looked at Draco again, and he looked at her. For a brief moment they stared into each other's eyes, and then turned away.

Hermione didn't know why, but she had felt a bit embarrassed about looking at him so intensely when Harry asked her what she had been staring at. As if she had been doing something she shouldn't have done.

And as for Draco, he had just felt… strange. He had felt a weird sensation of happiness because she was looking at him, paying attention to him.

The weirdest thing was that she had looked at him, too, after Dumbledore had announced the Christmas ball. He had looked at her because… he didn't know.

Draco still wouldn't admit to himself that he had enjoyed the masquerade, and that he wanted to be alone with Hermione.

Pansy eyed him curiously, and sighed sadly. "You're looking at her again,"

Draco ignored her and ate his peas, careful not to drop any.

"And I'll have to do something about it," she said in a whisper that was only heard by her salad.

***

They reached the common room, and Ron yawned. "I think I'll just go to bed, ok?" he asked, going up the staircases and stretching.

"Ok, good night!" Hermione called after him. Then she turned to Harry. "I think I'll go too," she said. "I'm exhausted."

She turned around, but Harry grabbed her arm, and spun her around.

"Hermione, I know you weren't telling the truth about that broomstick," he said louder than he'd intended to as she turned around and looked at him.

For a moment, she was scared. Harry was looking so serious, and had grabbed her so roughly…

Harry sighed, and let go of Hermione. "Sorry about that," he muttered, looking away.

She smiled, relieved. "It's ok… I guess." she looked down at the floor. "How did you know I was lying?"

He shrugged, and looked at her. "I've known you for six years now… so I can read most of your faces," he grinned. "You're not a very good liar!"

She punched him playfully. 

"So what really happened?" he asked.

She sighed. "If I tell you, Harry, then you must promise not to tell anyone."

He nodded.

"I mean it. _No one_,"

"Ok. I won't,"

She took a deep breath. "Draco snatched the broomstick," was the only thing she could say. She knew this was going to be a big shock for Harry. 

She had promised Draco she wouldn't tell anyone… but Harry wouldn't stop until she told him. And if she made up a lie, he would know.

For a minute, he didn't say anything, just looked at her with a bewildered face. "_Malfoy_?" he finally stuttered. 

She nodded miserably.

"How? He wouldn't! He-"

"It's true," Hermione whispered, her gaze on the fire. "I think he's changing, Harry,"

"But, he wouldn't do that for Ron!" Harry insisted.

"No, he wouldn't," Hermione agreed. "But he did it for me," she smiled, still looking at the flames. "I was going to get it, but he offered to do it himself."

Harry was silent.

"I'm going to bed," Hermione said, yawning. "It's been an exhausting day. Night, Harry. And don't tell anyone,"

"Night," Harry muttered.

But he stayed where he was. As he watched the dancing flames, and as the shadows licked his face, he couldn't help but think that Draco was up to something.

***

The next two days went by as usual. Even if they only had some few days of lessons left, the teachers didn't seem to mind. They gave their students homework to ruin their holidays, and tried to stuff as many information into their heads as possible before it was Christmas break. 

Snape was specially nasty, since he had, of course, noticed that the broomstick was missing. Today they had potions, and Snape was eyeing them angrily. 

The problem was that the broomstick still followed Ron everywhere.

"Is it ever going to stop?" Hermione had asked Lavender.

"Only once Ron finds out who sent it," Lavender answered helplessly. "I didn't know he was going to take this much to find out,"

Before entering potions class, Hermione had put a small cloth tissue on top of the floating broomstick, and stuffed it inside Ron's backpack.

"Just in case it gets out," she told Harry and Ron. "Snape won't know what it is at first sight, since it'll be covered with this cloth,"

"It'll only take him a minute to find out," Harry pointed out. "He already knows it floats around,"

Just then Snape had yelled at them to sit down, and had taken ten points from Gryffindor.

And as Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat together, glancing at Ron's backpack every once in a while, they could see little bumps on it as the broomstick tried to get out frantically. 

Ron gulped as Snape started to speak.

"Apparently, someone has taken Weasley's broomstick without my permission,"

Hermione looked at Draco. He was looking at Snape as he always did, with his gray eyes fixed upon him, and his arms crossed.

"Potter!" Snape barked. "It was you!"

Hermione saw Harry's fists clench. As usual, Snape was accusing him of something he hadn't done.

"It wasn't me, sir,"

"Dear me," Snape said sarcastically. "Then who was it?"

Harry didn't say anything.

"_Who was it_?"

"I don't know,"

"You lie," Snape spat.

Harry knew this was a perfect chance to get Malfoy into trouble. But he wouldn't do it. Not only because he had promised Hermione he wouldn't tell anyone, but because, even though he hated to admit it, Draco had helped Ron.

"I'm not lying," Harry said.

Hermione got even more nervous as Snape walked towards them silently. He stood in front of Harry. "Potter, I want to know who did it this instant,"

"I don't know!" Harry yelled.

Snape burned his eyes into his green ones. "How dare you talk to me like that, Potter? Do you think you're special? Do you consider yourself better than the rest of us because of having that scar?"

A nerve snapped. Harry stood up, almost knocking down his chair. "I don't know who did it!" he yelled. "And I don't consider myself special!"

"Out of the classroom, Potter, you liar! Go to the Headmaster!" Snape yelled back. "We all know it was you! And thirty points from Gryffindor!"

They stood there, glaring at each other. Harry didn't know what to say. He was so angry, he would've gladly cursed Snape right then and there. But he didn't. He got his backpack, and started walking towards the door.

Then Hermione stood up. "It wasn't him, professor," she said. She was a bit pale, but her voice was firm. "It was me."

Everyone started muttering, and Harry stopped walking, and looked at her.

"Granger?" Snape said, coming closer to her, and said in a sneering voice, "Our perfect Granger has done something wrong?"

"I came for it the day you confiscated it," she went on.

Draco watched in amusement. How could Gryffindors be so stupid and so… brave at the same time?

Snape watched her for a moment as if deciding what to do. But it didn't take him long to decide, as he loved to bully Gryffindor students. "Then you shall go to the Headmaster also,"

Hermione got her backpack and started towards the door, leaving a wide-eyed class after her. Harry followed her. 

She was almost out the door when she heard someone chuckling.

Draco chuckling.

She stopped, and looked at him. She couldn't believe this. Draco was laughing at them?

"What is so funny, Draco?" Snape asked irritably. 

"Oh, nothing professor," Draco said in an obnoxious voice. "I was just thinking that Gryffindors can be even more stupid than I thought,"

Snape smiled in amusement. "Yes, quite true, Draco,"

"I mean," Draco went on. "It's quite obvious that neither Granger nor Potter did it,"

Hermione breathed in slowly, Harry looked at Draco in bewilderment, and everyone stopped whispering to each other.

"I'm afraid I don't know where you're going," Snape said through gritted teeth.

"Granger wouldn't have done it," Draco explained. "She would never put her clean record at risk, not even for Weasley."

Hermione was shocked. Where was this going?  
"Why would she want to risk getting in trouble for something as pathetic as Weasley's broomstick? Besides, I thought that Weasley and Granger weren't speaking to each other. I thought I had seen them yelling at each other this morning. It was just a stupid attempt to save Potter from going to the Headmaster. But Potter didn't do it, either,"

It seemed that Snape's smile was pasted on his face. Here was his favorite student, ruining his bullying session.

"I thought that you were inside the classroom that afternoon, sir,"

"And I was, Draco," he said.

"Then you would've seen who had taken it. Did you ever go out?"

"A few minutes, to consult something to the headmaster. Anyone could've entered at that time."

"When was it stolen?" Draco asked.

"Before dinner time," Snape answered. It was clear he was trying to stay calm.

"Then Potter couldn't have possibly gotten it at night," Draco said. "Was it stolen before or after I left from my afternoon visit?"

"After,"

"Ah, yes, I thought so,"

"What?" Snape asked angrily.

"I'm sure I saw Filch's cat go inside the classroom as I went out. You went to say something to the headmaster after I visited you, is that right?"

"Yes,"

"Then there's no other explanation. After I went out of the classroom, I was at the dungeons for a while, waiting for someone, and I would've seen anyone go inside."

"So what are you saying?" Snape snapped. 

"That Filch's cat must've opened the drawer, and taken out the broomstick. I did see Mrs. Norris come out, and I'm sure she had something in her mouth," 

Ron looked at his backpack, where the broomstick was still attempting to come out. What was Malfoy talking about?

"So if you'll excuse me, sir, I'll say you're wrong,"

If looks could kill, Draco would've died just then under Snape's glare.

"It's not like I want to defend Granger or Potter, of course," Draco said quickly. "But I'm angry with Filch. The other day he accused me falsely of bullying some Hufflepuffs, when all I was doing was telling them something. So it would be nice if you did something to Mrs. Norris instead," he grinned evilly. "That would hurt Filch immensely, and you would save two fools from going to the headmaster. He'd probably spare them, since, after all, you're sending _Potter_," he made sure he said that with disgust.

Snape didn't say anything for a while. He just stared at Draco angrily for the first time in his life, and then turned to Harry and Hermione, who both had their mouths hanging open.

"Sit down," he muttered.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, then at Draco, who was glaring at everyone who dared look at him, and then they hurriedly sat back down.

__

That had been weird.

***

When they got out of potions, Hermione didn't have the chance to thank Draco, because he sped out of the classroom before she could say anything. All throughout the day he seemed to avoid her. He didn't look her way, and if he saw her at the halls, he would silently walk another way.

She wondered if he was embarrassed of what he had done.

But, no matter how he felt, he'd have to face her tomorrow at their Joggart Meeting.

***

That evening, Draco sat on his bed, thinking. He had had the strangest reaction in potions. As soon as Snape had told Hermione to go to Dumbledore, he had come up with a plan, and used it. 

He didn't want her to be in trouble.

Besides, _she_ hadn't done it. In fact, it had been him. 

But he wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for her.

It was both his and her fault. But he wouldn't let Snape get her into trouble. She had been brave to defend Potter like that… and also stupid. 

So he had jumped in and defended her, and also Potter. He had only done it for her. Not for that fool…

Only for her.

And then he'd avoided her all day. He didn't want her to say that she had been stupid to do that, that she had things under control… that she was very grateful.

Or maybe he did.

He was still thinking when a tapping noise caught his attention. He looked at the window, and saw his eagle-owl tapping the window with his beak.

Draco stood up, and opened the window, letting in a chilling breeze. The owl flew in and stood on the chair, stretching out his leg, from where a parchment was attached.

As soon as Draco took the letter, the owl flew off into the night again, apparently in a hurry. He probably didn't want to share the owlery with other owls.

Draco opened the letter, and saw that it was from his father.

__

Draco,

I write to inform you that this Christmas I will hold several parties with our friends, the death eaters. But you are not invited, I'm sorry to say. I would show you off to everyone, but I'm afraid that I have nothing to be proud about in you. I've received a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson. They have no good news. Apparently, you've been spending more time than needed with that mudblood, Granger. Their dear, charming daughter, Pansy, has told them. And I'm glad she has. How dare you humiliate the Malfoy name by spending time with a mudblood? You should go with other people, like Pansy. There's an example of a respectable family. I'm warning you, boy: leave Granger alone. If the Parkinsons tell me that you've started to fancy her, then you'll be sorry. 

Maybe staying at Hogwarts on Christmas will make you come back to your senses. If anyone asks, say that you've chosen to stay on your own free will. We don't need any more humiliation from your part.

Lucious

Draco re-read the letter again. 

Damned Parkinson! How dare she write this sort of rubbish to her parents? _Fancying_ Hermione? 

That stupid Parkinson would pay. She was a stupid fool who didn't know in how much trouble he could find himself in with his father. She was jelaous because he was spending time with Hermione, and not her. And now she thought that he fancied Hermione? 

Of course not! Although he liked being alone with her. And spending Christmas here with her sounded good.

He went down to the common room, and threw the letter into the fire. "Thank you, father," he said, watching as the paper crumpled as the flames licked its surface. "You don't know how happy I am to stay in Hogwarts this year. Anything to be away from you, and from your party of death eaters."

And he stood there, watching the letter burn until there was nothing left.

***

"Draco, thank you so much!" Hermione exclaimed the next day as soon as she got a glimpse of him.

He sat down on the stairs. "Why?" he drawled.

"Don't be modest," Hermione said. "You know exactly why I'm thanking you,"

He shrugged. "It was nothing, I just… I did it because…"

Hermione smiled as she sat next to him. "I don't know why you did it, but I'm grateful. You shouldn't have done it. You could've got in trouble yourself," she looked up at him. "And Good thing you're in Slytherin. Those cunning plans really come in handy sometimes, huh?" she laughed. "Thanks,"

He shrugged again.

"I mean, you even stood up for Harry! That was so, so nice of you! I… I just want you to know that if you ever need something, I'll do it, ok? I owe you one,"

He nodded, a warm feeling at his chest.

She started writing. Bluey had grown a lot, and was bigger that Draco's hand. It wasn't easy to carry him around one's pocket anymore.

Draco was silent. Too silent.

"Is anything wrong?" Hermione asked.

Draco didn't say anything, and only shook his head.

"Are you sure?" she asked again. Her brown eyes reflected worry. 

Draco nodded. 

Hermione continued writing, but stopped after a while. "Something's wrong," she insisted. "You're not talking,"

Draco sighed. She was getting to know him better, and knew just when he was feeling bad.

"My father wrote to me," he said slowly. "He's holding some death eater parties. So I'm staying at Hogwarts this Christmas, something which I've never done"

He wouldn't mention the part about fancying her.

"Oh…" Hermione said. "I'm sorry, Draco,"

He shrugged. "I'm better here, anyway. I won't have to spend time with all those death eaters."

Hermione nodded. "Well, then I'll be seeing you around here."

Draco looked down at the floor.

"It won't be so bad," Hermione assured him. "Besides, this year we have a Christmas ball… so many people will stay here. You could say that you wanted to stay to go to the ball,"

"I don't have anyone to go with," Draco pointed out.

She kept on writing, thinking. In truth, she felt glad Draco wasn't going with anyone. She was sure that if she saw someone else dancing with Draco, she would be jealous for some reason.

Then she got an idea. Even if Harry and Ron said she was crazy, she would do it.

"So… you're not going with anyone," she said slowly.

He shook his head.

"Then… would you like to come with me?" she asked quickly.

Draco looked at her in surprise. Hermione was asking him to the Ball. He could dance with Hermione again. Twirl her around, get her round the waist. Look into her eyes the whole time. And she had chosen to go with _him_. She wanted to go with him, and with nobody else.

"Sure," he heard himself answering.

She smiled, getting a little red. "Ok. That'll be great."

"It's not that I like you that way, or anything," Draco said quickly. "It's just-"

"Don't worry," Hermione said, smiling. "I know just how you feel,"

*********

Ok, I don't know if your understood what Draco said in potions class, so here's his lie:

Draco went out of the potions classroom, and saw Mrs. Norris go inside. Then he stood near the classroom, waiting for someone. After a while Snape came out to say something to Dumbledore. While he was gone, Mrs. Norris came out of the classroom with something in her mouth. 

This was all a lie, of course. Anyway, did you like the chapter?? Do you think a Christmas Ball is a good idea? I know it's not very original, but… well, it's part of the story ^_^

Again, thanks to Jessica for giving me the idea of Pansy sending letters to her parents!


	12. Chapter 12

Woot woot! Chappie 12 finally out! Lol. My computer had to go get fixed, so I had to write this in the computer that's inside my room. That one has no internet, but Microsoft Word works just fine ^_^.  

Thanks to all who reviewed!! Remember: I love you! ^^ : Milk, DracoMalfoy, Shivohnsongbreeze, DolceEspressivo, jokester515, Gliniel of Tirragen + Malfoy, Waterdemon900, Dragon-soul, Kristi, Crystalline Lily, PinkRosePetal, Bubblicz, Christabel, SVZ, Marzipal, KeeperOfTheMoon, cheerchik113, Jessica, Dark Vampire, Danny, minda,  EclipseKlutz, Karly, pumpkin head, Blade Griffin, Tom Felton´s Babe, goddess of love, VenusDeOmnipotent, PrettyGurl88, Vanillastar, Heather, short-n-sweet05, Starry Skies, Kelzery, Silver Fawkes, YingRui, Intuerimors, Sarah, Slytherin-cool, fds, jupi, Serenity Raye, Dreaming One, Vikkitoria, and fb90!!!

And there were some people who sent flames. Thanks! ^_^ ok, so maybe Draco´s reaction WAS too OOC, because maybe his pride wouldn´t let him go to the ball with Hermione with everyone watching. But remember: He wants to dance with Hermione, so he´s not about to stand back and let someone else dance with her.

And maybe yes, there would be more rumors going around. But I can´t just start changing all the chapters right now. I´ll try to make Draco more real from now on... but if I don´t succed, then you´ll just have to bear with me . Besides, it IS my first fanfiction. In my second I´ll have more experience, and I´ll try to make it as real as possible!! ^_^ for now, just imagine that I´m good at controlling Draco´s reactions, lol.

***

Hermione looked across the common room at Lavender, who was sitting in an armchair near the fire, and peeking at Ron every once in a while.

Then she looked at Ron, who was running his hand through his hair for the thousandth time over his essay of History of Magic. It was standing up sharply now, and Ron tugged at it in desperation.

_This_, Hermione thought. _Is pathetic_. 

She got up from the chair she was sitting on, and walked over to Lavender. 

Lavender looked up at her and smiled.

"Hi," Hermione said, sitting down next to her. "How's Ron doing?"

Lavender blushed. "Cute as always,"

Hermione smiled. "Are you going to stay this Christmas?" she asked.

Lavender sighed. "Is there any chance I could go with Ron to the ball?"

"I don't know," Hermione admitted, biting her bottom lip. "Maybe you should ask him to go. He thinks you won't go with him if he asks you because he probably bored you at the masquerade,"

Lavender's face brightened up. "He really wants to go with me?"

"I wasn't saying that, either," Hermione said carefully. "I think he just wants to go with _someone," _

"Oh," Lavender said, looking down at the floor.

"But don't worry," Hermione said, trying to cheer her up. "I really think you have a chance with Ron. He's so clueless at times… he really won't notice you like him unless you tell him. And if you do, I'm sure you'll receive the answer you deserve,"

They both looked at Ron, who, just then, was trying to smash the small broomstick with his fist as it flied around frantically, trying to avoid Ron's fist.

"Er… he, umm…" Hermione tried to think about something that could excuse Ron's behavior.

"Don't worry," Lavender said, and chuckled. "It _must_ be annoying," she looked at Hermione. "Maybe, tomorrow, I'll ask him to come with me,"

Hermione nodded. "That would be great," she got up, and, before leaving, whispered, "I really hope he says yes, Lavender,"

Lavender smiled, and continued reading. Hermione returned to her chair, and looked at her essay, which was neatly copied in clean parchment. For some reason, her thoughts wandered to Draco. She remembered looking into Draco's deep gray eyes as she asked him to the ball. He had accepted… he'd go with her. He'd dance with her again. 

She got butterflies in her stomach, something she'd never felt before.

"Hermione!" someone exclaimed at her side.

She looked to her side. It was Harry. 

She also noticed that her chin was in her hand, and that she had been looking out the window.

"Yeah?" she asked, embarrassed.

"I need help with my essay," he said with a pleading look.

She sighed. "Alright. Bring your materials,"

Draco had barely taken a step into the common room when Pansy jumped over.

"How about if we go to the ball together?" she asked cheerfully.

Draco could've killed her right then and there. In fact, if looks could kill, she would've been pretty dead by now. 

Not only had she sent a letter to her parents saying the most ridiculous things, and had annoyed him until he could've screamed with rage, but now she dared to come in front of him and ask him to go to the Ball with her?

She smiled innocently under his glare.

Still glaring, he walked away.

She followed. "Please, Draco?" 

She tugged at his sleeve. "Pretty please? I really, _really_ want to go with you!"

He clutched his fists, and gritted his teeth, trying not to loose his temper.

"Draco!" she exclaimed, now positively hugging his arm. "Go with me! You're _supposed_ to go with me! We're meant to be! Even your father says we would be perfect for each other! My _parents_ want me to be with you!"

That was it. He couldn't stand it anymore.

He whirled around sharply, making Pansy detach herself from his arm, and look at him, scared.

"Leave me alone!" he yelled.

Some people stopped talking, and looked at both of them. Draco Malfoy didn't yell much.

He glared at them, and they all looked away and started talking again, as if scared of him.

Draco turned to Pansy angrily, and got her by the sleeves roughly. He dragged her out of the common room, and walked with her until they were in a silent, dark, mossy, damp tunnel. 

He put her against the wall and got her arms, looking straight into her frightened eyes.

"How dare you write that letter to your parents, Parkinson?" he hissed.

She didn't say anything, only looked away.

"How?" he demanded, rising his voice and shaking her a bit.

She breathed in, and then looked at him. There were tears in her eyes, and her voice quivered.

"I don't want to see you with that Mudblood, Granger!" she sobbed. "I only want you to follow in your father's footsteps… to become a deatheater, just as I will!"

"I don't want to!" he shouted.

"You should," she said, sobbing.

"Oh, I should?" he asked silently. "Why?"

She looked away again.

"I'm not as blood thirsty as you are," he said. "But you love to make people suffer, don't you, Parkinson? You love to see them twitch in pain, yelling until their throats give out, begging for death,"

"Stop it!" she screamed.

"Why should I stop?" he spat. "You've never stopped whenever I told you to!

She started sobbing.

"Don't cry now, Parkinson," Draco said cruelly. "It won't do you any good. You should've known I have a quick temper. You should have known that, if I was provoked, the consequences could be fatal,"

She cried harder.

"This is what you like to do to people. You like to make them suffer, don't you?"

She breathed in and out, calming down so that she could talk to him. Draco waited, glaring.

"I'm going to become a deatheater," she said, quite bravely looking into his eyes. "And you should, too,"

He let go of her. "I don't want to. And I won't. Leave me alone, Parkinson," 

He started to walk away, but what Pansy said stopped him. "You're going to the Ball with her, aren't you?" she asked silently.

"Yes, I am," he answered.

She gave a sob, but, even if her voice quivered, what she said next was still menacing. "If you go with her," she said. "I swear you will be sorry, Draco Malfoy,"

"You just dare to do something," Draco answered even more silently still. "One wrong move… and _you´ll_ be the one who will be sorry,"

And he left, leaving a sobbing girl behind to hide in the shadows of the tunnel.

Two days later, the last day of the trimester finally came.

When the bell rang to announce the end of the last class, Harry, Hermione and Ron cheered along with the rest.

"It's over!" Ron cried happily as he slammed the History of Magic door open. "No more teachers! No more work! No more-"

Hermione cleared her throat. "I don't want to ruin your cry of victory, Ron, but I might remind you that we have homework for the holidays. And we're coming back in about two weeks, so-"

"Aww… hush, Hermione," Ron said, waving his hand. "Why think about that now? We have two weeks of freedom ahead of us!"

Hermione smiled and shook her head. Good old Ron.

"Hey, Ron," Harry said as they started climbing the marble staircases. "I'm going to practice some quidditch this afternoon. Want to come?"

"Of course!" Ron exclaimed. "Why did you even _ask_?"

Harry laughed. "Alright."

"I think I'll go too," Hermione said. 

"It'll be cold," Harry warned her.

"I know," she answered. "Don't worry,"

She felt a tap behind her, and turned around. It was Lavender.

"I… couldn't help overhearing," she said, turning red. "Do you… do you mind if I go with you?"

Hermione giggled, and, with a wave of her hand, told Ron and Harry, who were waiting for her, to keep on going.

"Of course you can come," she said. 

Lavender smiled. "Thanks,"

They started walking. "Maybe, if you spend lots of time with us, Ron will notice you more,"

Lavender sighed. "I hope so. The Ball's only five days away, and…" 

Hermione smiled and nodded. "Why don't you ask him? He doesn't seem to get the point, does he?"

"I was going to ask him the other day," Lavender answered. "But I got too shy at the last moment."

"I'm sure he'll say yes," Hermione assured her. "Even if he says so because he'll go with anyone, I'm sure that, in no time, he'll start fancying you. Right now he's just an innocent, clueless, er… 'Sweetie'"

Lavender giggled. "Are you sure he'll say yes?"

Hermione nodded.

"And you're really sure that he could start liking me?"

"I have every confidence,"

"Let's go!" Harry called out, coming down the stairs and shouldering his firebolt. "It's getting late! It'll be evening soon!"

Ron got up from where he was siting, and Hermione and Lavender came out of their common room.

"Lavender's coming too," she informed the boys.

Ron shrugged. "Ok," he said without much interest.

Lavender's shoulders sagged a little.

As they climbed through the portrait hole, Hermione nudged Lavender, and winked. They had went over all the things she could say to Ron, and how to get on his good side.

She nodded.

Then Hermione went in front with Harry, leaving Lavender and Ron behind.

"So," Lavender started. "Are you good at flying, Ron?"

"Sorta," he answered.

"Sort of?" she asked in disbelief. "I've seen you fly at times, and you're really good!"

He grinned. "Thanks. Were you sitting in the stands? I didn't see you,"

"No," Lavender answered, getting red. "I…just…sometimes I happened to look out the window, and… I could see you," 

"Oh," Ron seemed to believe this. "Alright,"

He waved his hand at the broomstick furiously. "Damn thing," he muttered.

Lavender started sweating.

"It won't stop following me around!" he complained to her.

"Oh… really?"

"It's annoying! It was cool at first, but now I can't seem to shake it off me," he went on.

"I'm glad the first trimester is over," Lavender said, trying to change the subject. If he found out who had sent it with her in front of him, she would positively die.

"Me too!" he said happily, as the four of them stepped out into the cool afternoon.

"No more work, no more nothing," she went on.

"True!" Ron exclaimed, and smiled at her.

_Such a beautiful smile_, she thought. 

They reached the quidditch field. Harry mounted the firebolt at once, and kicked off from the ground as the rest of them sat in the stands. Hermione noticed that Pansy was sitting nearby, but didn't give it much thought.

"Woo hoo!" Harry cried as he went higher and higher in circles.

It wasn't long before Harry, Lavender, and Ron, who were chattering easily, heard two screams.

They looked up in alarm, and saw two figures speed off from each other in the air.

Both of them stopped almost at the same time. 

"Watch out, Potter!" one of them cried as he turned around to face Harry.

"Watch where you're going, Malfoy!" Harry shouted back.

"Malfoy?" Ron asked to no one in particular.

"It was your fault, four eyes!" Draco yelled.

"Hey, Malfoy!" Ron shouted from the stands, waving his fist at him. "Watch your words!"

"What's the matter, Weasley?" Draco asked. "Didn't you-"

"Hi, Draco!" Hermione lost no time to yell.

Draco looked at her, and then he had to shut up. It seemed he couldn't insult both Harry and Ron when she was around. He felt guilty with her eyes upon him. Besides, they were her friends.

With a last glare to Harry, he flew towards the ground, and landed perfectly.

He walked over to Hermione.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," she answered pleasantly.

Ron gaped at her. How could she be pleasant after he had insulted Harry?

They heard a choking sob, and saw Pansy staring at them.

"What's wrong with her? Why's she crying?" Hermione asked.

As usual, her questions had a strange effect on him when her innocent, wondering brown eyes stared at him.

He got her arm, and pulled her up. 

He nodded rather coldly at Ron, who was glaring at him, and at Lavender, who was looking at him in surprise.

 "Hermione," he said, once they had disappeared behind the stands. "I have to talk to you."

By the time he had finished telling the story about what had happened two days before in that dark tunnel, Hermione was covering her mouth with one hand.

"I know I was cruel," he admitted. "I have a quick temper."  
He was resentful for doing what he had now that he had told Hermione, because she was looking pretty shocked. He didn't want to see that face. He wanted to see her happy.

"Don't go with me," she said finally. "To the Ball,"

He would've given anything for Hermione to take those words back.

"What?" he asked, alarmed. "Why?"

"From what you've told me, Pansy could get you into real trouble with your father if you did,"

"She won't," he assured her. "She wouldn't dare,"

"I'm not so sure about that," Hermione said, crossing her arms.

"Look," he said. "I want to go to that Ball with you. Besides, Pansy isn't the only threat I have. You have no idea what the Slytherins will whisper after my back if I go with you,"

"Exactly," Hermione said again. "Another reason not to go with me."  
"But they won't dare get me into trouble. They know me,"

She shook her head. "Just don't go."

He stood silent. Hermione looked serious. Too serious. 

Did that mean… she didn't want to go with him?

He felt sadness come over him.

"You don't want to go with me," he said silently.

"That's not true!" she exclaimed, looking shocked. "I just don't want everyone to laugh at you,"

"They won't laugh," he assured her.

"And I especially don't want you to get in trouble with your father!"

She was so good.

He shook his head. "You want to go to the ball, I want to go to the ball. Case closed. We're going."

Hermione was silent for a minute. She wanted to go with him so, so badly. But she didn't want him to get into trouble. 

He looked so serious, though. She knew nothing would change his mind.

"Fine," she said, giving up. "But if you regret it, it's your fault."

He nodded. "Ok,"

When Hermione came back to the stands, she found Lavender and Ron talking and laughing. They seemed to be getting along better. 

"You missed Ron flying!" Lavender said as Hermione laughed. "Harry let him use his firebolt for a while. He flies really good!"

Ron grinned again. "Thanks. Can _you_ fly, Lavender?"

"Not much," Lavender answered.

"I know the basics," Hermione told her. "But I don't know any tricks,"

"I've never seen you fly!" Lavender exclaimed. "Fly for me for a while,"

"No," Hermione answered.

"Why not?" Lavender asked. "Come on!"

"She only went on the firebolt a couple of times," Ron said, kicking the lavender and brown broomstick. It zoomed right back to him the minute it recovered, though. Ron cried out in exasperation.

 Harry landed in front of them just then. "Malfoy's back," he muttered, pointing at where Draco was flying around.

"Let Hermione fly around with your firebolt, Harry!" Lavender exclaimed.

Harry looked at Hermione questionably. "You want to?"  
"Er… well, actually-"

"Of course she does!" Lavender cut her off. "Come on, Hermione, give it a try,"

"Fine," Hermione said. Two times she had given in this afternoon. 

She walked towards the broomstick, and mounted it. "Ok…" she said, looking unsure. "I'm kicking off now…" she gave a small kick, and rose slowly into the air.

_This is fun_, she thought, as she urged the firebolt to go faster. The cool wind brushed her hair back, and it felt great to fly around with the sun setting. She laughed, and somehow managed to give an amazing loop in the air. 

She laughed out loud. She closed her eyes, breathing in the evening air. And then, probably because of having her eyes closed, she lost her balance and hung upside down, with both hands and feet on the firebolt, like a chameleon, hanging on for dear life.

What could she do now?

She saw, with the corner of her eye, as Draco flew closer.

Then she started swinging. Right, left, right, left. Then she finally had enough impulse, and managed to stand upright again. She sighed with relief, and watched as Draco left.

Knowing him, he probably felt foolish for coming to help and then finding out she didn't need his help after all.

She smiled at his kindness.

Then she looked down, where her friends were waving at her, and cheering. But there was someone she didn't see. She was so busy looking down at her friends that she didn't see Pansy pointing her wand up at her. 

She only heard her cry "Rictusempra!" before she was doubled up in laughter, and trying to hold on to the broomstick.

It felt as if a thousand hands were tickling every inch of her body, and they didn't stop…

She was loosing her grip on the firebolt. She needed to hold on… she would fall… Her hand started to slip from the handle. She tried to grip it tight, but she couldn't.

She fell.

All the time she fell, she both laughed and cried. A very weird combination.

Draco, who had just turned around to see what was so funny, had looked just in time to see Hermione fall off. Without thinking, he quickly dived, and flew under her. He stretched out his arms, and got her only inches from the ground.

He landed, lay Hermione on the ground, and kneeled next to her.

He took out his wand and pointed it at Hermione. "Finite Incantatem," he muttered. 

Hermione stopped laughing, and looked at him. Then there were tears in her eyes, and, before he knew it, she stood upright, and she was hugging him.

"Thank you," she said between sobs. "I was so scared…"

Draco didn't know what to do. He had to admit that he loved to have Hermione hugging him, but he didn't know how to react.

Finally, he patted her back uncertainly.

"Hermione!" Harry cried.

Lavender, Ron, and Harry were running towards them across the field.

"Are you ok?" Ron asked.

"I'm sorry!" Lavender said between sobs. "This is all my fault… I should've never urged you to fly around when you didn't want to! I'm sorry, Hermione!"

The three of them were crowded around Draco and Hermione, because she still hadn't detached herself from the boy. She seemed to find a sort of comfort and protection she couldn't explain there. 

It was also very pleasant.

"Hermione, come on, it's all over now," Draco said as Harry, Lavender and Ron started looking at him suspiciously. 

She finally let go of him, once she had calmed down a bit, and smiled at him before turning to the other three.

"I'm ok," she managed to say, brushing away her tears.

"I am SO sorry!" Lavender exclaimed again. "Please forgive me!"

"It's ok," Hermione assured her, trying to calm her down. "Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it?" Lavender asked desperately. "How can you ask me that? Of course I worry about it! I really AM sorry, Hermione!"

"I said it's ok," Hermione repeated.

Then she hiccuped.

"Great, first the tickling charm, and –hic- now this,"

Harry chuckled. "Glad to see you're ok,"

"Who put the tickling charm on you?" Ron asked, still staring suspiciously at Draco.

Hermione stood silent for a moment, and then sighed. "Pansy."

They all jerked their heads towards where Pansy was sitting.

But she wasn't there any more.

"Coward," Lavender muttered.

"Why would Pansy do that to you?" Harry asked.

Draco was staring fixedly at where Pansy was supposed to be sitting.

Not only had she threatened him, but now she was trying to harm Hermione?

_I swear you will be sorry, Draco Malfoy_. her words suddenly came back to him.

He hadn't thought about this kind of punishment. How dare she try to harm Hermione? Anger rose up inside him. 

He'd get her for this if it was the last thing he did.

"Well, I don't seem to be needed anymore," he muttered, starting to stand up. "So I'll just-"

Hermione stopped him by grabbing his sleeve, and smiling at him. "Thank you, -hic- Draco. I really mean it. That's –hic- two times you've saved my life now," 

"Forget it," he mumbled, looking away, aware of four pair of eyes on him.

Hermione let go of him, and he walked off without another word.

Ok, I tried to add some fluff in this chapter!! Lol. Don't worry, the long awaited kiss will come in time! Oh, and yes, maybe Draco WAS too mean to Pansy, but it all has a cause. Again, sorry if the way Draco´s behaving isn´t too real. Oh, and since I don´t know any latin, I used the tickling charm that appears in book two.

  
  



	13. Chapter 13

First of all, I'm really sorry for not updating sooner!! It's not a writer's block... it's just that we had to study for some tests this week, plus all the homework we got x_x I have to fit this in my schedule, and sometimes it's barely impossible. So I beg your pardon!! If the next chapter doesn't get out soon, please note that we have two tests in the upcoming week, so I'll be busy!! But I still love writing, so you won't get rid of me so soon! MUHAHAHAHA!! Lol ^_^

Ok, someone asked what OOC means, so here it is: Out Of Character. I didn't know, either... I had to figure it out by myself, lol. Ack... I'll try to make as little OOC as possible!! . it's haaard, though! 

Thanks to Blade Griffin, S-Star, Dragon-soul, Esperanza, Intuerimors, Kristi, Arafel, Crystalline Lily, DolceExpressivo, Calypso, Ciel Charmante, Suzanne, sb1, EclipseKlutz, crystal89, Jen, TriGemini, fb90, Vikkitoria, SVZ, Dark Vampire, Rachel, Hermione18, Silver Fawkes, Slytherin-cool, DracosGirlMakayla, gordo87, Calani, guettoliscious, Shivohnsongbreeze, XxSleepygirlxX, Jokester515, Me123, WaterDemon900, lil-spitfire, The Charmed One, eviltwin2634, and Dragons Kitten for reviewing!!

***

Hermione tried to concentrate on her homework, which was completely useless, since she kept on thinking about what had happened a few hours before.

"Do your homework _later_," Ron had suggested. "It's Christmas, Hermione! Come on!"

She had refused, though, and had stubbornly sat down to write... what was she supposed to write, anyway? Heck, she'd forgotten!

She looked down at her blank parchment, and then her eyes surveryed the books sprawled across the table.

Oh, yes. Transfiguring normal, boring tables into something alive.

She yawned, and put her quill on the table. It was useless to try and concentrate when she was so busy thinking about that afternoon.

She slumped in the couch next to the one Harry and Ron were sitting in.

"I can't concentrate," she moaned.

"Call the aurors, Harry!" Ron exclaimed. "Hermione's seriously injured!"

"Quiet, Ron," Hermione snapped. "Nothing's wrong with me,"

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because I'm perfectly fine!" exclaimed Hermione, desperated.

"No, I mean," Harry tried again. "Why can't you concentrate?"

"Oh," she said, feeling stupid. "I don't know... I guess that, falling forty feet off a broomstick and almost hitting the ground is more exhausting than I thought," she looked at the fire. "Specially if Draco's there to catch you," she whispered so that no one would hear.

"You're still on about that?" Ron asked.

"Yes, I'm still 'on about that', Ron!"

"I remember when I fell fifty feet from my broomstick, in my second year," Harry said, grinning, as if the memories were good ones. "Then Lockhart came along," he frowned. "And de-boned my arm."

"Git," Ron said, with much feeling.

"I guess he was, wasn't he?" Hermione sigued.

"Well!" Ron exclaimed, grinning. "You finally admit it! Will someone clap? I need an applause here!"

Hermione glared at him.

"Aww, come on, you didn't even _scratch_ yourself!" Ron went on. "I mean, Blond Boy was there to save you, wasn't he?"

She glared harder.

"Like this," Ron stood up to demonstrate. He licked his hand, and ran it through his hair. Then he looked at his nose, and threw his arms apart. "Come here, 'mione! I'll save you!" he started walking in a very duck-like fashion, but stopped when Hermione wacked him around the head. 

"Ouch," he said, rubbing at the spot she'd hit. "That hurt!"

"It was meant to," she replied, looking cross.

"It's things like these," Ron muttered, sitting back down. "That take the fun out of life."

"Can I do anything to help you feel better?" Harry offered.

"Punch Ron," 

"Anything else?" Harry asked.

Hermione thought for a moment, but then sigued. "No, I guess you can't. I'm going to bed... it's late. Good night," she added, going up the stairs and disappearing from sight.

***

The next morning at breakfast, Hermione was still in a sour mood. Ron didn't talk to her at first, either, but Harry, who was more mature, urged him to. 

"Ok!" Ron said, exasperated. He leaned back to look at Hermione, since she was sitting on the other side of Harry. "Hermione!"

She looked at him, still drinking from her goblet.

"I beg your forgiveness for making fun of Draco Malfoy,  who probably didn't deserve it, as he was good yesterday... and as you're you angry with me, I solemnly promise not to..er... make fun of him again... today."

First, Hermione looked at him as if he'd just said that Professor McGonagall and Snape really _were_ going out together, and then she laughed.

"I'm sorry, Ron," she said between heaps of laughter. "You just looked so funny when you said it!"

"Great," Ron muttered, looking at his breakfast. "I looked funny,"

"Come on, she's not mad at you anymore!" Harry tried to cheer him up.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Ron," Hermione said, stretching out her arm and patting him on the back.

"That's all right, I guess," Ron sigued. "At least you're not grouchy anymore."

Hermione smiled, and looked across the Great Hall at Draco. Pansy was leaning over to him, trying to talk. Draco looked angry, and seemed to be trying not to get Pansy's neck and twist it around. He stood up and stormed out of the room, putting his cloak on.

_Well_, she thought. _At least he didn't murder her in front of everyone_. 

Then she looked at Lavender, who was talking to Parvarti and glancing at Ron, and smiled. Yesterday, when she was lying in bed, Lavender started talking to her in the dark. 

"I had fun today," she had said. "Well... except the part when you fell. I liked talking with Ron," she added. "We should go out again, if you don't mind,"

"Of course I don't mind," Hermione had replied. "I'll talk with Harry and Ron to see when we can go out again,"

And she was going to do just that. 

"Why don't we go out and play in the snow this morning?" she asked. "It could be fun,"

"Yeah!" Ron piped up. "Let's go!"

"Alright," Harry said. 

Hermione smiled at her success. "Let's go after breakfast," she suggested. 

"Fine with me," Ron said, and ate faster.

When breakfast was over, everyone started going up the marble staircases.

"Come on, Hermione!" Harry called from the Entrance Hall, putting his cloak on.

"Hold on!" she called back, looking for Lavender over the mass of kids dressed in black. 

It seemed that everyone had stayed in Hogwarts this year. 

She finally found her just as she started to climb the stairs. 

"Lavender," she said.

Lavender turned.

"We're going to play out in the snow... Ron's included. Want to come?"

"Yes!" Lavender exclaimed. "Let me get my cloak... it's in the common room!"

"Wait for you here," Hermione said.

She had brought her cloak to breakfast just in case they decided to go for a walk, or something. As she walked towards Harry and Ron, putting her gloves on, she passed a small group of muttering Slytherins.

She didn't catch every word, but what she heard as the Slytherins passed by made her stop in her tracks.

"-Draco Malfoy-"

"-A shame for the whole family-"

"-With a mudblood!"

_Oh, no_, she thought. _Oh no, Oh no, Oh no!_

_But they won't dare get me into trouble. They know me_, Draco's voice thundered in her head. 

She hoped he was right.

"What are we waiting for?" Ron asked, looking wistfully outside.

"Lavender's getting her cloak," Hermine answered.

"Lavender's coming?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Hermione answered.

"Damn broomstick," Ron exclaimed, trying to punch it.

Harry looked at the flying broomstick Ron was fighting with suspiciously. "Lavender _Brown_," he said. "Is coming."

Hermione smiled nervously. "Yes,"

Just at that moment, Lavender came jumping down the stairs cheerfully. "Hi!" she called, and skipped right next to Ron. "Let's go have some fun!"

"Yeah!" Ron said, and stepped outside.

All throughout that night, it had snowed. Hogwarts was a real white wonderland. A white sheet of snow seemed to cover everything from the bare branches of the trees to the roof. And, of course, the ground was covered in snow as far as the eye could see.

They set off around the castle to find a good place to have a snow war. They found one just behind the enormous castle. There were some trees perfect to hide behind, and some rocks perfect to climb and throw snow to your oponent from. 

"Teams?" Ron suggested.

"Nah, it wouldn't be fun with only two teams," Harry said. "Everyone's on their own."

"Ready, set..." Hermione stopped for suspense. "GO!"

Everyone started running in opposite directions. 

Hermione ran and hid behind a tree. She crouched down and scooped up some snow. Then she stood up straight with her back against the tree. She carefully peeked around the tree... and her face was the unlucky target of a snowball thrown from Ron. 

"Argh!" she cried, rubbing the snow away. "I'm going to get you, Ron!" 

She started chasing him, and threw him the snowball she had in her hand.

It landed perfectly on Ron's head.

"No!" Ron cried. 

Hermione laughed and ran off before Ron could turn around. She scooped up another snowball, and followed Lavender's footprints. She soon found her behind a tree, peeking at Ron.

"Bombs away!" Hermione yelled as she aimed the snowball at Lavender. She threw it, and it landed on her face.

She laughed as Lavender cursed, and went behind a rock. She got some snow, and climbed up the cold, smooth gray surface.

From there she could see the whole battlefield. There were Harry and Ron throwing snowballs at each other. There was Draco with his back turned to them a few distance away, looking off into the distance, and there was Lavender still hiding behind her tree.

Wait.

What was Draco doing there?

Her curiosity got hold of her and, before she knew it, she was climbing down the rock again. She made her way towards him hiding behind trees whenever Harry and Ron drew close.

Finally, she was only a few yards away from him. He had his hands in his pockets, and since he looked so calm, and everything was so quiet, and she still had the snowball in one hand, she did the only thing that seemed reasonable.

Hermione aimed carefully... and the snowball landed on the back of Draco's head.

He turned, furious. 

When he saw who it was, though, his expression softened.

Hermione laughed. "Gotcha!" she smiled. "What are you doing here?"

If it had been anyone else, Draco would've told them off. He had gone out of the Great Hall because Parkinson wouldn't stop bothering him, and he wasn't very good at controlling his anger. He was in a very sour mood, but, somehow, Hermione always seemed to cheer him up.

"Thinking," he finally replied.

"About what?" Hermione wanted to know.

"Parkinson,"

That got Hermione started. "What happened in the Great Hall? What did Pansy want?"

"She's spreading rumors," he explained. "Well, actually, she's telling the truth. She's saying I'm spending time with you. And that we're going to the Ball together,"

Hermione gasped. "That's terrible!"

"I noticed,"

They were silent for a few minutes.

"Then we _shouldn't_ go together!"

"Yes, we should!" he said angrily.

"Draco," Hermione said, trying to make him understand. "Those Slytherins are whispering about you! Don't you even care?"

That was a question he'd asked himself a thousand times. Lately, though, he found that he didn't care what other people thought as long as he could be with Hermione. And now she stood in front of him, asking the same question that had been tormenting him these last few days.

"They won't get me in trouble," he said. But Hermione could see that he didn't sound so sure, and he said it as if he were reassuring himself instead of her.

"I care," she said. "I don't want people whispering about you,"

"Whispering about both of us," he reminded her.

She waved it aside, and opened her mouth to say something, but Draco stopped her.

"I'm still going to spend time with you," he said, scooping up some snow. "Because I want to. Now hold still, I'm going to throw some snow at you,"

She laughed. "You won't find it so easy!" she said, running away.

He set off after her. 

And he _didn't_ find it easy. Hermione zig-zagged trees, went around Rocks, and once she even stopped and ran in the opposite direction, hitting him with a snowball as she passed by.

He was quick, though, and could follow Hermione's every move without trouble. He got snowballs whenever he could, and they always landed on Hermione's back.

Hermione turned around. "You'll never get me!" she yelled. 

When she turned around again, though, she wasn't quick enough to notice that Harry was in her way, so she bumped into him, and they both fell to the ground.

Harry laughed. "Get off, Hermione!"

"I'm trying to," she replied, also laughing. She rolled off, and laid by him. "Well, I might as well make a snow angel now," she said, shrugging.

"Why was Draco chasing you?" Harry asked, sitting up straight and looking at Draco, who was staring at them a few yards away.

"We were playing," she answered innocently. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Just wanted to know."

When she was done with her snow angel, Hermione reached out her arms. "Someone help me to my feet, or I'll ruin it,"

Harry got up, got Hermione's arms, and pulled her up.

"Nice angel, 'mione," he said. 

"Thanks," she replied, smiling. 

Then she looked over at Draco, who was still watching. 

"I'm going to go find Lavender and Ron," Harry said, walking away. 

She skipped over to Draco. He was looking serious.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He shook his head, as if shaking off some thought he'd just had, and looked at the floor. "Nothing,"

"Well..." Hermione bit her bottom lip. "If you say so." She wanted desperately to know why he was looking so serious all of a sudden, but she had known him for a few months now, and knew it was best to say something cheerful. "Want to keep on playing?"

He got some snow. "Play? This is war!"

She was so happy to see him cheerful again that she let him hit her with the snowball without difficulty. Then she ran away again.

Draco liked to chase her. She was like another beautiful thing added to the already beautiful, silent surroundings. She disappeared behind an oak and kept on running, either laughing or giggling, and vanished behind another tree. Then she'd appear in the least expected place, and hit Draco with a snowball. He'd then chase after her, and so on.

They kept on playing for a long while, until Hermione was distracted, and bumped into Ron.

"What," he asked, once he had pushed her off, and she was struggling to her feet. "Is Malfoy doing here?"

"We're playing," she answered.

"You're _playing_," he said in disbelief. "With Malfoy. Without having to. Without anyone making you. On a perfectly beautiful winter day."

"Yes, Ron!" she said in despair. How could Lavender possibly fancy him?

He got up from the floor, and stared at her. "Fine!" he said, clearly exasperated, too. "I just wanted to know if you were in trouble or something!"

Hermione sighed. "Ok, I'm sorry, Ron," she said. "I didn't... never mind,"

Just then Harry and Lavender stepped next to them. Lavender was very red, and Harry was looking satisfied with himself.

"It's cold," Lavender said suddenly, and looked at Hermione pleadingly. "How about if we go back into the castle?"

Hermione gave her friend a questioning look, but Lavender only shrugged. 

"Alright, hold on," Hermione said. "I have to say good-bye to..." she turned around, but Draco wasn't there. She scanned the whole battlefield, but he was nowhere in sight. Where was he? Had he gone? Why did he go without saying anything? 

Hermione didn't know why, but Draco always left whenever her friends were with her. Why? Was he embarrased? Ashamed? Did he feel out of place? She didn't know, but, sometimes, like now, it hurt her to see him so mysterious. 

"Let's go," Harry said. 

He and Ron started walking to the castle.

"What happened?" Hermione asked as soon as they were out of earshot. 

Lavender sighed, and turned red again. "Harry," she said, covering her face with her hands. "Knows it was me who sent Ron the broomstick!" she breathed in. "I am _so_ embarrased!"

"Harry knows?" Hermione asked. "But... how?"

Then she remembered that, as they waited in the Entrance Hall for Lavender to come, Harry had looked fixedly at the broomstick, and had pronounced her name slowly. 

Lavender shrugged and let her arms drop. "I don't know. All I know is that you know, and he knows. Everyone knows except Ron!" she gave a small sob.

"Don't cry, Lavender," Hermione said in alarm, running to hug the sobbing girl. "It's ok... you can trust Harry,"

"Are you sure?" asked Lavender between sobs.

"Yes. You don't have to worry about that," Hermione said, smiling.

Lavender smiled crookedly. Three tears ran down her cheeks, and her nose was red, but otherwise she was fine. "I'm sorry," she said suddenly. "For... you know. Bursting into tears just like that, without an apparent reason,"

"It's ok, Lavender," Hermione said, patting her on the back, and never ceasing to smile. "Sometimes that happens. Besides, no one's watching us,"

But she was wrong about that, because someone _was_ watching them. Draco stood behind a nearby tree, silently staring at them. He'd started to walk away, but had stopped just when Hermione had said she wanted to say good-bye to someone. Then he'd stopped, turned around, and stared at her from him hiding place. Her brown eyes had searched the whole battlefield, but he had been sneaky enough to pass unnoticed. She'd looked... sad, and disappointed. 

And now, just as he had expected her to do, she was offering Lavender a shoulder to cry on. Just what Hermione would do. She really _was_ good. She helped anyone, no matter how the person was, both on the outside, and on the inside... he hated to admit it, but she had helped _him_. Hermione just had a way of making you cheerful again.

"Come on," she told Lavender. "Let's go inside again. You can sit in front of the fire, and I'll make sure Harry doesn't say anything, ok?"

Lavender sniffed and nodded. "Ok. And... thanks for listening,"

Hermione shook her head. "Don't mention it,"

Both girls started walking towards the castle, and Draco silently walked away.

***

When they got to the common room, Harry and Ron were talking over a game of chess. Harry glanced at Lavender, and she gave a small whimper. Hermione squeezed her hand, and smiled. "I'll talk to him," she said.

Lavender nodded, reassured, and went to the girls' dormitories. Then Hermione turned to Harry and Ron, and walked towards them decidedly. 

"Well, I never got around to telling you, but, you see, Lavender-"

He couldn't say anymore, because Hermione had put her hand over his mouth in a frantic attempt to make him quiet.

Ron stared.

Hermione laughed nervously. "Right," she said, getting Harry's sleeve. "I was just..." she gave Harry a big, fake smile. "Come here..."

He stood up and let her drag him towards a corner in the common room, while Ron continued to stare at them.

"Harry," she said, more seriously still. "I see you've found out,"

Harry grinned. "Yes! Finally!" 

He stopped grinning, though, when Hermione didn't smile. 

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Don't tell Ron," she said.

"Why?"

"Because Lavender wants him to find out on his own, without help. I could've told him ages ago, as I knew from the day the present was sent," she said proudly.

"But Ron has a right to know! He'll find out sooner or later, anyway!" Harry insisted.

"You sure?" Hermione asked, nodding towards Ron, who was innocently trying to smash the broomstick with Hermione's copy of _Hogwarts: A History_, which had been lying nearby.

"Ok, so maybe not. But he has a right to know!"

"Lavender sent it, and she wants it that way," Hermione said in a very final sort of way.

"_Fine_," Harry said, almost whining. "But it'll be so hard! I mean, he has the answer in front of his nose!"

"Just as you did," she reminded him.

He sighed. 

"Lavender will be grateful," she assured him.

He nodded. "Alright," he said, turning away. "But I'm only doing it for Lavender!" he said. "Well... and because you asked me to."

She sighed in relief. Another problem solved.

***

In the Great Hall, Dumbledore stood up, and cleared his throat. 

Everyone quieted down, and turned to him.

"I remind you," he said. "That the Christmas Ball, which will be held on the evening of 25th of December, is almost here. You have four days left, so I advise you to find a partner, if you haven't already done so," his eyes twinkled. "But, as almost everyone seems to have stayed at Hogwarts this year, you probably already have a partner."

He kept on giving school announcements, but Hermione wasn't listening. She was too busy looking at the Slytherin table, where most of the Slytherins were giving Draco nasty looks. With one glare from Draco, though, everyone turned away. 

Everyone but Pansy. She only smiled sweetly.

_It'll be worse when they see us dancing together_, Hermione thought. _If only I could do something!_

Harry sighed. "I think my dress robes will be shut up in my trunk forever," he muttered. "As I'm not going with anyone,"

"Don't say that," Hermione said. "I'm sure you'll find someone to go with! Those dress robes won't be in your trunk much longer!"

He gave her a weak smile.

She looked at Draco again. He was still glaring at anyone who dared look at him. She was about to put some more potatoes on her plate, when she stopped.

Harry's trunk. _Harry's trunk_! Of course! Why hadn't she thought of it _before_? It would solve all their problems for the dance! It was a crazy idea, but it could work. They only had to be really careful and silent... why not? And as she stared more and more at Draco's proud face, and thought more and more about Harry's trunk, she was certain her plan would work.

******

Again, sorry for not updating for so long!! Anyway, hoped you liked the chapter! You can try to guess what Hermione's thinking about... it's not that mysterious, actually, if you think about it ;)  please review!!


	14. Chapter 14

Ok, first of all, thanks to all of you who told me I had made the stupid mistake of confusing "Sean" with "Dean" . I feel so stupid now, lol. Please forgive, though! It won't happen again ^_^

Sorry for not updating sooner!!!! As I said before, I'm busy with tests . I can barely find time to write! But the chapter's FINALLY out!! :D I'll try to update sooner next time, but next week we have lots of tests, too, so forvie, please!

And congrats to all of you who figured out the mistery about Harry's trunk! Lol. 

And thanks also to everyone who sent flames!! I'll try to keep in mind the mistakes I make ^_^ 

Oh, and someone said my chapters were too long... but most people say they're too short. Ack, now I dunno what to do!! I guess I'll just keep on making them about 7-8 pages long on Microsoft Word. 

And now, THE question: **_When_**_ are they going to kiss_??? Sorry, I know it's taking long... I know exactly when it's going to happen, how it's going to happen, in what circumstances, how long it's going to last, etc, etc, lol. They still need time, though!! BUT look on the bright side:  the longer it takes, the more exciting it will be when it happens!! *looks around* er... well, yeah, just keep in mind that it's coming. One of these days. 

Someone people also said that they wanted action… that things were going too well. And I agree *evil grin* Things ARE going too smoothly, aren't they? Don't worry, as I've said lots of times before: I have everything planned out. Everything has its purpose. I have the plot all laid out nicely, and that includes action. So just be patient. I like to take my time. 

And sorry if sometimes the words I use aren't appropiate for the thing I'm writing at the moment, or my expressions suck. But I guess you should know that I don't live in an english speaking country. I live in Spain, where everyone speaks Spanish. I lived in the Untited States for 3 years, that's how I learned english. So it's kinda hard to remember all those expressions I used to say 24/7 over there. Fortunally, I chat with my friends online and talk to them on the phone, so at least I can ask them whenever I forget something. Which is kinda embarrasing, actually. But I remember most of the things. It's just some of the expressions, and rarely some words.  (But I might go back to the US this summer, so I'll remember everything soon!)

Oh! Before I leave: **Narisunell**, I'll do as you told me: I dedicate a nice, cute, fluffy Joggart to you!! Here, you can have him, *reachs out hand with Joggart on it* he's all yours! (Watch out, it bites) ^_^

And I have 499 reviews!!!! Thanks to Hyper_shark, *Karly*, Intuerimos, Hermione18, Llewellyne 89, DolceExpressivo, Crystalline Lily, Starry, willow, Suzanne, Calani, lil-spitfire, Starry Skies, EclipseKlutz, PinkRosePetal, SVZ, Me123, Vikkitoria, sb1, Blade Griffin, Avri, Kristi, Jenz, Darren, Rincorwen, The Charmed One, Amaryllis, YingRui, Mysticpixie, Draco Lover, MysticalStormz, Gliniel of Tirragen + Draco, Silver Fawkes, TriGemini, Tom Felton's Babe, teenage_dirtbag, Rincorwen, Hatokirei, DracosGirlMakayla, fb90, junejewel, yopqi-chunsa, aphrodite, Unicorn777, BlueBird, MisS_Thang, Jen, Narisunell, Ashely, and UndomielEvenstar for reviewing!!! I love you!!!

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

******

Hermione woke up the next morning with the intention of telling her plan to Draco. She took a quick shower, got dressed in a haste, brushed her hair, and raced down the stairs to the common room. 

She was almost at the portrait when Harry stopped her.

"Hermione!" he called, going down the stairs with Ron trailing behind. "Wait up!"

Hermione had wanted to avoid them so she could tell Draco about her plan, but she didn't want Harry and Ron to know.

"I'm hungry," Harry said as they stepped out of the common room.

"Stupid thing," Ron muttered, waving at the broomstick. 

They heard a giggle. 

"What's that?" Ron asked absent-mindedly, still trying to wack the broomstick.

"It's coming from that broom cupboard," Harry said, pointing to a wooden door to their right.

Another giggle.

Ron looked at the door. "Well," he said, stepping closer to it. "Let's see what's in there..."

"Wait, Ron..." Hermione said quickly. She could guess what was behind that closed door with a banner reading _Broom Cupboard_.

But it was too late. Ron's curiosity had gotten hold of him, and he was already turning the doorknob. 

Harry looked in horror as the three of them watched Cho and another Ravenclaw boy kissing tenderly. 

Ron cleared his throat loudly.

Cho looked at them with the corner of her eyes. Harry stared, and her eyes opened big. She detatched herself from the blond boy.

"Argh!" Cho screamed. "Weasley! How dare you!" with one last look at Harry, she got the door and snapped it shut.

Ron started sniggering. 

"Harry..." Hermione started carefully, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't," Harry said, shaking her off, and walking down the hallway quickly. 

"Harry!" Hermione called, trying to keep up with him as his pace quickened. 

They reached the marble staircases, and Harry started running.

She ran after him, but he was quicker. Before she could stop him, he was out of the castle, and she was standing at the door, watching his running silhouette getting smaller and smaller. 

Just as she'd watched Draco run off when his mask had fallen off.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, right by her side. "Why'd you run off like that?"

She looked at him angrily. "Why did you snigger? Was it funny to see Harry hurt?"

Ron stared at her with a shocked expression. "Of course not!" he answered. "It was that Cho Chang... she'd looked funny when she saw me!"

"Oh, yes," Hermione said sarcastically. "It was just _so_ funny!"

She glared.

He shrugged. "Well, I'm going to get some breakfast," he turned away

"_How_," Hermione demanded. "Can you be so _insensible_?"

Ron took a few steps, and turned around again. "I _do_ care about Harry," he said. "And I hope he feels better after being alone for a while."

And he left, leaving Hermione to feel very stupid.

***

After a while, Hermione had to admit she was hungry, and finally had some breakfast. Then she got out of the Great Hall quickly and stepped outside, putting her cloak on. She looked all around for Harry, but he was nowhere to be seen. She even went around back to the place they had had the snow war, but he wasn't there, either. So she heaved a sigh and, shivering, crossed the snow covered grounds and entered the castle again.

Where could Harry be? 

Still wondering, she entered the common room. Immediately, someone seized her arm and dragged her to a corner.

"Lavender!" Hermione gasped.

Lavender looked a bit pale, and her legs were a bit quivery, but her eyes and her voice were determined. "I'm going to ask Ron to the dance,"

"That's great!" Hermione exclaimed.

Lavender smiled weakly. "I just… before someone else gets to go with him. And…" she nodded towards Ron, who was looking out the window while trying to smash the broomstick. "I don't think he likes my broomstick much. You _do_ think that if I ask him he'll finally realize I'm the one who sent him the broomstick?"

Hermione doubted it, but she nodded, and gave her friend a small push towards Ron in encouragement. "Go ahead,"

Lavender nodded, breathed in, and smiled at Hermione. Then she gave a step forward, followed by another, and another, and was finally standing next to Ron.

Hermione watched nearby.

"Ron," Lavender said seriously, looking straight into his eyes.

"What?" he asked, barely glancing at her.

She took a deep breath, and crossed her fingers behind her back. "Would you like to… to go to the dance with me?"

For a moment, Ron looked dumbfounded. Then he looked at Lavender, as if he were deep in thought. And then the broomstick, which had been circling his stomach, suddenly fell to the floor with a soft _thunk_.

Hermione could barely breathe as Lavender turned red, and Ron's mouth dropped open.

"Lavender," Ron said, looking at the broomstick, which was lying on the floor peacefully. "Were you the one who sent…"

"Yes," she admitted.

Now it was Ron's turn to blush deeply. 

Hermione crossed her fingers, praying nothing would go wrong. Not now. Not when Lavender had built up the courage to tell Ron how she felt.

"So will you go?" Lavender tried again.

"Ye- yeah," Ron stammered. "'Course,"

Lavender sighed in relief, and smiled. "Ok… I'll see you then!" 

She hurriedly turned around, and walked up the stairs into the dormitories.

Hermione followed, and opened the door to find Lavender lying on her bed. She had her face buried in her pillow.

"Way to go!" Hermione cheered, closing the door behind her.

Lavender groaned.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

Lavender sighed and raised her head. "Do you think he meant it?"

"What?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure he wants to go with me," Lavender explained, sitting up and crossing her legs.

"Of course he does!" 

"He'd go with any girl," Lavender muttered.

"No!" Hermione said, although she wasn't so sure. "He was just… surprised,"

Lavender didn't look convinced.

Hermione sat next to her. "Don't worry," she said, getting Lavender's hair and twisting it into a braid. "I'm sure he'll come to like you as well. Ron's just so innocent at times…" she smiled. "I really think you have a chance with him. Just keep on trying, and never give up,"

Lavender smiled, too. "Yes. I'll try! And… are you sure I have a chance with him?"

Hermione stopped braiding Lavender's hair, and looked at her friend. "Without a doubt."

***

Later that day, after lunch, Hermione walked around the castle, searching for Draco. Harry still hadn't come back, and she was suspecting he had stayed with Hagrid. She was tired of looking out the window, so she decided to go look for Draco and tell him her plan.

She finally found him in the library. He was doing a potions essay, and had already six parchments full of neat writing sprawled on the table.

Hermione crossed the room, and sat next to him.

He looked up. 

"Hi," she said.

He looked around before answering. "Hi. Thank God Pansy isn't around… she'll use any 'suspicious' action from my part against me," he explained, seeing Hermione's questioning look.

She smiled. "I have an idea,"

"For what?"

"The dance,"

"Really?" Draco asked, tipping his quill into the ink box, and starting to write again.

"Yes," Hermione was thrilled. "Even though you should've had the ideas… _you're_ the one in Slytherin, so you _should_ have 'cunning plans', but-"

"Did you come here to blame me because of my lack of ideas?"

"No," she answered. 

"Get on with it,"

She looked around, just as he had done, and dropped her voice to a whisper. "The invisibility cloak,"

He jerked his head up, and looked right at her. For a moment, they were silent.

"How come I didn't think of that?" he asked, as if talking to himself.

Hermione grinned. "We could dance under it the whole night. Nobody would know,"

He thought for a moment, and a gleeful smile spread across his face. "First mistake of the day, Granger,"

Her shoulders heaved. "What?" she asked, disappointed.

"As we'd be invisible, somone would rudely bump into us," he explained.

"Damn," Hermione muttered. "I hadn't thought about that…"

"So we'll have to be extra careful," Draco went on. "Second mistake: they'd hear us."

"Then we won't talk,"

"What about our footsteps?"

Hermione thought. "I won't use high heels. They make a lot of noise"

"Well, you might sacrifice your appearence, but _I_ won't wear dress robes with sneakers," Draco replied in an arrogant tone.

"Why? No one will see you!" 

"You will," he reminded her.

"Yes, but… that doesn't matter!"

"It does," he assured her.

Hermione put her head down on the table, and sighed.

Draco stood still. 

After a moment of silence, he was impatient. "So…"

Hermione sighed again, and stood up straight. When she looked at Draco, though, she had a glint in her eyes he had never seen before.

"Let's just risk it," she suggested.

Draco looked at her strangely. Hermione Granger, wanting to risk getting caught? This was serious.

"You really _are_ a Gryffindor," he said, trying to fight a smile. "Stupid… and brave,"

"And you're really a Slytherin," she replied, although she couldn't help smiling, either. "Snobby and sneaky,"

He grinned. "Yeah, that's me,"

Hermione stood up. "Well… I'll see you fifteen minutes before the dance starts at the bottom of the marble staircases, alright?"

Draco nodded. 

"Ok, see you there," she said, and walked out of the library.

***

The last three days until Christmas passed in a blur. Everywhere in the castles, preparations for the dance were done: there were thousands of decorations in the Great Hall and in the hallways, the armours and the portraits were dusted, and Filtch was in a horrible mood, giving detention in advance to any student who dared to leave a trail of mud behind them.

Lavender and Ron hadn't talked at all since Lavender had asked him to the Ball. They kept on avoiding each other's eyes, and Ron got red when someone mentioned her name. 

Draco and Hermione hadn't talked, either. Not because they didn't want to, but because it was getting harder to do so: Pansy seemed to be everywhere, glaring at Hermione, and keeping a close watch on Draco. If they passed each other in the hallways, Draco would simply nod, and Hermione would smile.

Harry was feeling better, although he still couldn't stand to watch Cho and that "Stupid Ravenclaw Idiot" eating together. Just as Hermione had thought, he had gone to Hagrid's house to calm down.

While Harry thought up plans to torture the boy, Hermione kept on thinking about the plan. Would anything go wrong? Would they be discovered? These questions had tormented her all these three days, so when she woke up on Christmas morning, the first thing she thought was, _it's today._

She stood up straight slowly, and looked at the foot of her bed, where a pile of presents of different shapes and sizes were wrapped in colorful wrapping paper.

She got out of bed and, without bothering to get out of her pajamas, threw open the door to the boys' dormitories.

"Good morning, everyone!" she yelled, making Neville jump. "Merry Christmas!"

Ron didn't say anything, as he was too busy kneeling on the floor next to a pile of torn wrapping paper, opening his presents.

"Merry Christmas," Harry said, looking up from a pile of presents.

"Me-merry Christmas," Neville stuttered, getting out of bed.

Hermione looked at Dean, but he was sleeping soundly. 

"Maroon _again_?" Ron asked in disbelief as he held up a maroon sweater with an R on it. "I told her to make it another color this year!"

Hermione giggled. "Oh, come on, Ronnie, dear. You know you like it!"

He glared at her.

Suddenly the box Harry was unwrapping shook madly, scattering all of Ron's wrapping paper, which had been close by, all over the room.

"What is that?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Don't know," Harry answered, trying to get hold of the box, which had wiggled itself to the other end of the room.

It made a wild dash towards Hermione, but she moved out of the way just in time. "Do you think that, by any chance, it could be from Hagrid?"

"I'm afraid it is," Ron said.

For a moment, the box stood still. Harry tiptoed behind it. He was just about to catch it when the box jumped and toppled onto Dean, who woke up with a scream.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" he yelled, trying to shake the box off.

Harry launched at the shaking present, but he couldn't hold it still.

Hermione got her wand out of her pocket, and aimed at the box. "_Petrificus totalus_!"

The box stood still, and Dean got out of bed quickly. "What," he asked again. "Just happened?"

Harry just stood there, and Ron seemed to be afraid to go near it. Neville was hiding under his bed.

"It won't do anything," Hermione assured them. "Whatever it is, it's motionless."

Harry nodded, and took a deep breath. He reached out his hand towards the lid, and opened it carefully. 

Everyone, even Neville, edged closer and peered into the box.

"There's only tissue paper in there," Ron said in disbelief.

Harry started throwing aside all the tissue paper. He was sure there was something else in there…

And there was. At the bottom of the box, there was one object.

"_A tie_?" Everyone exclaimed at the same time.

Ron started laughing. "A tie!"

"Look," Hermione said, pointing. "There's a note next to it,"

Harry took it and opened it slowly. He recognized Hagrid's messy writing.

_Dear Harry,_

_Hope the present didn't scare ye too much! I hope ye like it!_

"Like it?" Harry asked. "It almost hit Dean on the face!"

"Keep reading," Hermione urged him.

Since you came over about three days ago and told me what ye saw in that broom cupboard, I've been trying to think up a plan to help ye. How about this tie here? Ye could give it ter that Ravenclaw boy, and when he puts it on, it would strangle him! (I don't think he'd die.. It'd give him quite a scare, though!)

Hagrid.

Hermione gasped. "Strangle him? Hagrid's gone mad!"

Harry laughed. "He says it would only scare him!"

"Let's give it to him!" Ron exclaimed, already heading for the door. 

"We're _not_ giving it to him," Hermione said, seizing Ron by the back of his pajamas.

"Er… Hermione," Dean said carefully. "Could you get out? I want to dress, and I can't with you here,"

"Oh," she said, letting go of Ron. "Right,"

She stepped outside, but turned around again, and looked at Harry. "See you at breakfast!"

***

Hermione went down to breakfast with a small wrapped present in her hand. The reason she'd come earlier to breakfast was so she could give Draco the present she'd bought. And she wanted to give it to him in person.

She peeped into the Great Hall, and saw that Draco wasn't sitting at the Slytherin table.

"What are you doing?" a voice asked behind her.

She turned and found she was face to face with Draco.

She smiled. "Merry Christmas!" 

"Merry Christmas," he said. It sounded weird to say that, and to actually feel it.

"I got you a present!" Hermione said, giving him the bundle. 

He took it slowly. 

"Open it," she urged him.

He started to carefully take the wrapping paper off. It was a book titled _Salazar Slytherin: The Real Him_

"I didn't know what to get you," Hermione admitted. "But I thought a book would be fine…"

"It's perfect," he assured her. "But… I didn't get you anything,"

"That's alright," she said.

"No," he replied. "It's not alright…" he thought for a moment, and finally reached behind his neck, and took a necklace off. There was an _M_ with a snake wrapped around it dangling from a thin silver cord.

"My father gave it to me this summer," he explained. "It's one of the many treasures the Malfoys have. It's been in my family for generations. Take it," he handed it out to her.

She looked at it, and shook her head. "I couldn't. It must be such an important thing for you,"

"It's not," he said, and looked away. "Not anymore."

"Draco, I couldn't-"

"I want you to have it," he insisted. "Besides… it gives me bad memories. But if I know you have it I won't hate it so much,"

Hermione hesitated, but finally put her fingers around the silver cord, and put the necklace around her neck. 

"It even looks more cheerful on you," Draco said coldly.

Hermione stared at him with a worried expression. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he muttered.

"Tell me,"

Her tone of voice was soothing, but he wouldn't tell. He didn't want to. She'd just think he was a spoiled brat.

He looked away again. "I'm not saying anything,"

"Please, Draco," she tried again. 

He remained silent.

"Has it anything to do with your father?"

He clenched his teeth.

"With Pansy?"

Silence.

"With… with me?" 

That made him talk. "Of course not!"

"Then what is it?"

"Look," he said, avoiding her eyes. "My father didn't send anything this morning. Not one present! And that's very humiliating for a Malfoy. But it's not just the fact of not getting any presents on Christmas morning… it's the fact that he did it to humiliate me. To make me feel bad. And Pansy sent a bunch of red roses this morning, to make everything more humiliating. Now everyone's going to start laughing behind my back… they won't fear the Malfoy name anymore!"

"Draco…" Hermione started, but she was cut off.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled, coming down the staircases. "Thanks for waiting!"

Draco looked at both Harry and Ron, and looked at Hermione again. "I never told you this," he said

She nodded, and he entered the Great Hall. 

She was glad Draco had trusted her. Even if she'd had to insist a lot before he said anything. Maybe she was the only one who listened to him. Maybe that was why, when it came to talking about his family, he was always so uncomfortable.

"Let's go inside," Harry said once he and Ron had reached her side.

Hermione grasped the _M_ on the neckace. It felt cold and solid. Just as Draco was.

She didn't let go of the _M_ all throughout breakfast, even when Harry looked strangely at her. She wanted to warm the material up, just as she wanted to make Draco feel at least a little warm when he was with her, so that he could forget about the cold world he lived in, even if it was just for a while.

And she hoped she would succeed. 

***

"Are you sure I look alright?" Lavender asked yet again.

"You're perfect," Hermione answered, taking another look at her.

Lavender was wearing a white winter dress with long cuffs, and some few silver trimmings on the chest.

"Do you think Ron will like it?" she asked nervously.

"Of course he will," Hermione replied. 

"Oh, I don't know…." 

"You're _fine_," Hermione assured her, and taking her by the hand. "Ron's waiting," she said, dragging Lavender towards the door. "So you better go,"

Lavender nodded. "It's too bad you're not coming," she said. "I would've liked you to be there,"

"Yes, well…" Hermione hadn't told Lavender about the plan. She didn't want anyone to know. Draco would probably be angry if someone else knew, because anyone could start spreading rumors. "I'll be fine,"

Hermione opened the door. "Good luck,"               

Lavender got out. "Thanks for doing my hair," she whispered, glancing at Ron, who was just getting out of the common room.

"I only curled it," 

"And tied it into a fancy knob," Lavender added. "Oh…" she looked at Ron. "I have to go,"

"Have fun!" Hermione called after them cheerfully, and closed the door.

Finally, she was alone. She looked at her watch and saw that she only had thirty minutes to get ready.

"Great," she muttered, going over to her wardrobe. "And I don't even know _what_ I'll wear…"

She could've bought something on their last Hogsmeade trip, but as Ron and Harry had always been close to her, she hadn't had the chance. 

And now she was stuck with an useless wardrobe.

She had no idea what to wear. What would Draco like? Black, maybe? Silk? Satin? Why should she care, anyway? They would be under the invisibility cloak all night, anyway!

But she cared. Strangely, she cared.

She scanned the wardrobe. She still had the floaty blue robe she had worn on her fourth year, but she didn't want to put it on. It just didn't seem right to dance with Draco with the same clothes she had worn when she had danced with Viktor. She had a black satin gown, but that was too formal. She still had the two medieval dresses she'd used in Halloween. Then there was a pink summer dress, the casual peach dress, and, finally, a blue dress. 

Hermione chose to wear the blue one. It had a flared skirt, and double spaghetti straps. On top was a small, translucent blue jacket. She put it on and looked in the mirror.

_Well,_ she thought. _Problem solved._

She shivered. _Or not._

It was too cold to go out in a dress like the one she was wearing… but, then again, she didn't have anything else. 

_We'll be under the invisibility cloak_, she thought. _I can just wrap it around myself._

She looked at her watch again: fifteen minutes. 

"I can't believe this…" she muttered, getting a brush and combing her hair. She didn't have much time to work on her hair, so she decided to let it loose. She looked at the pile of makeup onParvarti's desk questionately. Should she?

No. She didn't have time, anyway. She still had to get the cloak.

After a last look at the mirror, Hermione opened the door and peeped outside. There were still some people in the common room, talking and giggling. It was weird to see so many colors instead of the usual black. 

Her gaze stopped on Harry, who was sitting on the couch, reading.

She closed the door carefully behind her, and tiptoed towards the boys' dormitories. She was glad to see it was empty, as it made everything much easier.

She strode over to Harry's trunk and snapped it open. Glancing at the door every now and then, she searched through his trunk, and finally found the cloak.

_Perfect_, she thought as she put it on. _And it provides warmth, too._

Careful not to bump into anyone, she walked towards the portrait. As she passed Harry, she couldn't help but feel guilty. After all, this was his cloak. She hadn't asked permission.

But it wasn't time to think about that. She needed to get out of the common room.

Her chance came when a couple walked out of the portrait hand in hand. She slipped through the opening before the portrait could close again, and hurried towards the staircases.

She started climbing down the stairs, but stopped halfway through.

There, at the bottom to the stairs, was Draco. He was wearing a tux, looking very handsome, and was looking up the staircases. He looked right _through_ her. Her heart leaped, and she felt that she could've stayed there forever, looking down at him…

She shook her head, as if trying to rub the thought away, and kept on going until she was right beside him.

"Draco," she whispered.

He turned and looked around suspiciously. "Where are you?"

Hermione took the cloak off, making sure there was no one around. For a moment, Draco just stared at her in amazement. She blushed.

"Whoa," he said. "You look… great," he finished weakly.

She took his hand and slipped him unnder the cloak. "Thanks. You're not looking bad yourself"

They stood still.

"Er… Draco? I think we have a problem," she said.

"What?" he looked down at her.

"How do we move?" she asked. "It's amazing how small this thing is… I've been in here with both Harry and Ron before, but now it just seems so small and crampled…"

"Yes, a little,"

"Let's practice before we actually dance," she suggested. "Or we might trip on it,"

"Alright. Let's take a few steps," he said.

Hermione nodded, and they started walking. For a while everything was fine. 

But then Herminoe tripped just as a couple walked past. 

Draco got her arm and pulled her back as the couple looked at the spot they were standing at strangely.

"I could've sworn I just saw a shoe in the air…" the girl said.

"Must've been that butterbeer," the boy grunted, and they walked off towards the mob of kids standing in front of the Great Hall.

"That," Hermione gasped. "Was close,"

"_This_ is close," Draco said. "We can barely stand an inch apart!"

"I guess it must have been a long time since I went under this cloak with Harry and Ron," Hermione said, biting her bottom lip. "We were smaller back then…"

"Attention," a voice suddenly said. It was coming from the mob of kids. 

Hermione stood on her tiptoes and recognized a familiar emerald pointed hat standing out above the heads of the students.

"Silence, please," Proffesor McGonagall said, more loudly this time.

Slowly, the students quieted.

"The Ball is about to begin," she said. 

The doors of the Great Hall opened slowly, making the hallway blossom with light. 

"Have fun," Proffesor McGonagall said stiffly, and everyone poured inside.

"Let's go," Draco said, stepping forward.

Hermione stayed still, though, so the cloak rose above her anckles.

"We have to move together, or this won't work," Draco stated.

Hermione nodded. "Ok. Let's go inside,"

"On the count of three, and we start with out right leg,"

And that's what they did. Somehow they managed to enter the Great Hall without tripping over the cloak. 

"Wow…" Hermione breathed when they had entered.

The Great Hall looked splendid. There were some warm snowflakes falling, and a huge Christmas tree was standing at the far end of the Hall, decorated with thousands of ornaments. There were torches that illuminated the entire Hall, and the windows had been wiped so many times that they could see their reflections in them. 

"Watch out," Draco said, pulling Hermione against the wall just as a group of girls walked by.

"This is going to be hard…" 

Draco nudged her and pointed to their right. 

There was Pansy drinking some punch near the food table. She seemed to be looking around.

"Probably looking for me," Draco muttered.

Suddenly a slow tune drifted around the Hall, and people began to go on the dance floor.

"Want to dance?" Draco asked without hesitation. 

"Yes," she answered quite normally.

Carefull not to bump into anyone, they stepped onto the dance floor.

It was the same as dancing in the masquerade, and yet so much different. 

Hermione remembered Draco's hands perfectly, his way of dancing, the way he looked at her… but her feeling were different. She knew who she was dancing with. Knew it was Draco Malfoy who held her with great care. 

And she liked it. 

The days of the masquerade, she had enjoyed herself. 

But this was much different. She had butterflies in her stomach, and she was a little nervous, even if there was no reason to be, as she and Draco were friends.

Draco felt something, too. He had stopped denying he liked Hermione, and had accepted it. 

But it wasn't just _liking_ her anymore, or at least he didn't think it was. He just knew he wanted to be with her forever. 

She was looking awesome, too. That blue dress was very pretty, and _she_ was even more pretty.

The song ended, and, without saying anything, they walked towards the food table. 

They decided not to say anything about the slow dance.

Draco was temted by some small strawberry cakes, and reached out for one.

"Don't!" Hermione said, grabbing Draco's arm.    

"Why?" he asked.

"Because," Hermione explained. "It would look… strange if a strawberry cake suddenly started levitating in the air, wouldn't it?"

"Darn," he said, looking at the cakes yearningly. "I wanted that cake…"

"Let's go dance again," Hermione suggested, getting his hand just as another song started.

"This is a fast song," Draco warned. "We'll have to be very carefull!"

"We will," Hermione assured him.

They decided to dance on a corner of the dance floor where they wouldn't bump into anyone. Or at least, they wouldn't bump into many people.

"Er…Draco?" Hermione said, carefull not to as she moved in time with the music. "I can't twirl under the cloak,"

"Pity," he replied. "You look nice when you do it,"

She blushed.

They were so absorbed talking, though, that they didn't notice Ron and Lavender dancing nearby.

They didn't see them coming closer and closer, and neither did they see Ron tripping over Lavender's feet.

But they _did_ feel something.

They felt as Ron bumped into them. They felt his hand gripping the invisibility cloak. They saw him fall to the floor.

And they watched in horror as he took the invisibility cloak down with him.

They were uncovered.

*******

If anyone wants to see Hermione's dress, go here:   

Sorry again for not updating sooner!! As I said, I'm busy with tests and homework. This chapter is longer than usual because I might be too busy to update soon. Anyway, please review!!


	15. Chapter 15

Well, FINALLY someone understands me!! Lol. As Shibohsongbreeze said,  " I am glad you didn't rush it or made them kiss yet, they hardly recognize the feelings they have for each other." And that's just my point. It wouldn't be very nice if they kissed without a real reason. But don't worry, it'll be here SOON! Lol. 

Yay!! Finally, finally FINALLY this chapter is out!!!! Lol. I apologice a thousand times! I would've gladly wrote it sooner, but I had no time! We have tests almost every day, so I have to study every single afternoon!! It was SO HARD to find time to write this! Hopefully, the next chapter will be out sooner. But you can be sure of one thing: sooner of later, it WILL be out. I love writing more than anything, and I wouldn't give it up for anything! And I'll be loyal to this fanfic, and won't stop until I finish it. Just please understand that lately I don't have time to myself… let alone time to write! But tests can't stop me from writing… it's a longing I have. When I haven't done so for a while, I _crave_ to write! So just be patient with me, please. Or with my teachers, lol. And please review, too. Your reviews encourage me a lot :D 

Oh, and lots of people said that the link didn't show up… and I'm afraid I can't do anything about it. I DID put the web adress so you could all go and check Hermione's dress, but it seems the server doesn't let me put links. Sorry to everyone!!

Talking about reviews… thanks to Vikkitoria, Draco's gurl, Suzanne, JenCarpeDiem, Lilia, Chocolat Elf, Silver Fawkes, Starry, DRGirl59, Waterdemon900, MisS_Thang, Slave2Draco, Jessica, BlueBird, Nikki, The Blue Flying Lunch Box, sakura angel90, hyper_shark, TriGemini, Belle, Hermie4sev, tiny dancer, tom felton's babe, Ely-Baby, Crystalline Lily, Jen, malale, DolceExpressivo, Silver Masamune, Starry Skies, eviltwin2634, SVZ, Gliniel de Silva Malfoy + Wood, Ezmeralda, angelfly and Calani, ex-jlo, Vikkitoria, Unicorn777, Marzipan, Kerbi, Yingrui, StarJade, Shivohsongbreeze, Kawaiilunakitty, ReinaEntreLeones, SophieBabe, Me123, joynspirit, Crazee Coaky, Dark Vampire, sb1, jen, femme fatale, Kiki, affisia, Slytherin-cool, zarsky, some1, silverdragon for reviewing!! (sorry if I missed anyone!!)

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

********

Draco and Hermione stood still as everyone around them started screaming.

Some people ran away from them, as if afraid they would do something to them.

But they certainly weren't going to do anything. Hermione was in a state of shock, looking at everyone through blank eyes. 

Draco clenched his fists and looked down at Ron, who was tangled with the cloak, and looking up at them with his mouth hanging open. 

Then he looked up, and saw something which made him feel as if his stomach was empty.

In all the chaos, Pansy was trying to fight her way towards them, pushing people aside, her eyes never leaving Draco's.

He looked at the cloak, and then at Hermione, who was still looking pale.

_Quickly,_ he told himself.

Draco bent down and snatched the cloak, making Ron roll down on the floor. He got Hermione's hand and started dragging her towards the door at the same time he put the invisibility cloak over them.

Hermione finally recovered, and her pace quickened.

"We have to get out of here…" Draco muttered without even bothering to dodge people. 

Everyone knew they had the cloak, so they woudn't be too surprised if suddenly something invisible bumped into them.

He looked back and saw, through a sea of hysterical people, that Pansy was standing still, looking around. Her face was screwed up in anger.

They kept on running, their eyes fixed on the big, wooden door.

They finally reached it. 

Draco opened it a little, and they slipped through it. 

Now they were standing still in a corridor, holding hands. Everything was silent.

"Let's get out of here," Draco suggested.

Hermione nodded, and let Draco take her out into the beautiful night. The sky was clear, spreading over them like a big blanket, the moon was full, and thousands of stars twinckled at them.

"I can't believe this…" Draco muttered, walking towards the gardens. The path that led to them was lighted with small, round circles of lights floating all around them.

Hermione shivered, and edged closer. "This silly dress…" she said. "I shouldn't have put it on."

They were in a small path covered by trees, and surrounded by other plants and bushes that seemed to glow with the moonlight. There were rose bushes, dragonsnaps, lilies, bluebonnets, and all other kinds of flowers glistening under a pale light. Trees covered everything, letting their branches spread across the garden, demanding respect.

"Let's sit down," Hermione suggested.

There were a a few benches here and there, and all of them were empty.

"That one," Draco said, pointing.

"Where?" Hermione asked, looking around.

"There, behind all those branches," Draco answered.

Hermione looked, and, with some difficulty, saw the bench Draco meant. If he hadn't said anything, she would have never spotted it. It had a strange kind of tree towering over it, spreading its long, thin branches full of leaves all around it. It was a perfect hiding place.

"You have a sharp sight," she said, impressed.

Draco went first, and drew back the curtain made out of leaves and branches so that Hermione could enter. Then he closed the curtain behind him, took the cloak off, as it wasn't necessary here, and they both sat down.

For a minute, there was only silence as they listened to the soft breeze gently moving the leaves.

Hermione put her head on Draco's shoulder.

Draco stood very still, both because he had Hermione's head resting on his shoulder, and because he didn't want to break the silence.

It wasn't a disturbing silence between two people who don't know what to say. It was a pleasant silence between two people who were comfortably sitting by each other, thinking about what just hapenned. 

It was Hermione who spoke first.

"I'm sorry," she said in a whisper no louder than a thought.

Draco remained silent for a moment. "Why?"

"Because… because of coming to the ball! I should've never come! Now look what's hapenned… everyone saw us, and- Draco? Did you know you're holding my hand?"

"Oh," Draco quickly withdrew his hand from hers. "Sorry,"

"It's alright," she answered, and meant it. In fact, his hand was very comforting. She had just noticed they were holding hands. The shock of what had previously hapenned had left her numb. Now she was coming back to herself.

She took a deep breath. "Everyone saw us, and now all the Slytherins will talk behind your back! They'll whisper and mutter about you, they'll have no respect for you! Maybe even the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors will-"

"You are _not_," Draco said. "Cheering me up,"

"Sorry," she said again. "I just-"

"And stop apologicing,"

"I just don't want everyone to…" despite her efforts to keep it still, her voice broke. She sniffed. "I don't want them to be mean. Slytherins are very cruel some times…" she couldn't keep going, and sobbed.

Draco didn't know what to do, so he just stood still.

"I don't even _know_ why I'm crying," she sobbed. "I guess I just don't want  everyone to be so mean to you. You don't deserve that kind of treatment!" she shivered again. "And sorry for acting like such a crybaby,"

That touched him. 

She cared about him.

She really did!

Again that warm feeling.

Draco, without feeling embarrased, put his arm around her shoulders. He did so both because Hermione was shivering, and she needed some warmth, and because he wanted to make her feel better. He had seen Harry put his arm around her shoulders hundred of times, and it always seemed to cheer her up.

Now it was Hermione's turn to sit as still as possible. For some strange reason, she felt wonderful. Draco's arm was very comforting, and he smelled very good, too. 

She wasn't cold anymore.

In fact, she felt butterflies in her stomach,  and a warm feeling at her chest. She could've stayed like this forever.

After a moment of silence, though, she looked up, right into his gray eyes that seemed as deep as ever in the moonlight.

"I feel better now," she said, smiling. "Thanks,"

They stood there, looking at each other straight in the eyes, with Draco's arm around her.

Then suddenly it felt as if an electric charge had hit them both. He looked at her intently, and her heart started beating faster.

It seemed as if both were thinking of only one thing. As if both were feeling something strong, and wanted to share it with each other.

Draco started to lean towards her, getting closer and closer, and never leaving her eyes, when they heard, to their horror, a meaow. Mrs. Norris was standing right next to them, looking at them with cold eyes.

They looked to their right and saw a light, probably coming from a torch.

Filch was looking for them. 

Draco sat up straight again, and stood up with a jerk. He grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her so that she would stand.

"Hurry," he whispered, putting the cloak over them.

The light was getting brighter.

"Let's get out of here," Draco suggested, taking her hand again and dragging her out of their hiding place.

They silently set off deeper into the gardens, away from Filch. 

"Did you see something, my sweet?" they heard Filch ask.

Hermione looked behind her, and saw Filch drawing the curtain of branches back, and talking to Mrs. Norris.

Filch turned, and looked right through them, into the darkness of the garden. "I know you're here somewhere!" he called.

Hermione shivered.

Draco gave her hand a tight squeeze.

Filch started walking down the path, so they started moving faster.

"Oh no…" Hermione moaned as Mrs. Norris started running right towards them.

"Run," Draco told her.

And that's just what they did. The good thing was that they were getting away from Filch a lot faster. The bad thing was that they made noise as their feet stepped on the dirt path.

Suddenly, Draco stopped short.

A tabby cat was standing right in front of them, looking around, and blocking the path.

_Oh, no_, Hermione thought. 

McGonagall was searching too?

Hermione looked at Draco with a desperate expression. She didn't dare open her mouth to speak.

"I've got you now!" Filch's voice boomed around the garden. "Go get them, my sweet!"

"_Damn_," Draco whispered, looking as Mrs. Norris got closer and closer.

Hermione took a step back, and almost stepped on McGonagall's tail. She looked at Mrs. Norris, who was coming right at them. She saw the light from the torch getting brighter and brighter.

And, without thinking, she just got Draco and pushed him out of the path, making him fall behind a bush. She fell along with him so that the cloak wouldn't fall off.

"What did you do that for?" Draco demanded, searching himself for injuries.

She put a finger to her lips.

Two cats were meaowing hysterically.

She stood on her knees to see what was going on.

A real cat fight had formed. Mrs. Norris and MrcGonagall scratched and bit each other.

Hermione sighed and collapsed on the ground. She put her hands to her face.

"What?" Draco asked, watching the fight intently.

"This is horrible," came the muffled reply.

"Really?" Draco said, still watching the two cats, amused.

Hermione only nodded.

"Why doesn't McGonagall just transform herself into a human again?" Draco muttered.

"Why does everything have to go so wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Mrs. Norris!" came Filch's cry as he saw his dear cat being attacked. He ran over to McGonagall, and started kicking her. "Get out of here, you!"

McGonagall scooted away, and transformed into her human self again. She looked at Filch crossly.

"Pro- professor McGonagall!" Filch stuttered.

"The same," she said sternly.

"I-I didn't know it was you!" maybe it was Draco's imagination, but he was sure there was fear in Filch's eyes. "I swear I had no idea it was! I thought it was just a cat who was messing with my poor dear Mrs. Norris!"

"Poor dear?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Filch stood quiet, and took a good look at her. "You're full of scratches!" he exclaimed. "And you're bleeding,"

"I've noticed,"

"You'd better go to the Hospital Wing," Filch said, being, in Draco's opinion, too kind. "I'll get these two kids by myself. I don't need help,"

McGonagall sniffed angrily, but decided to do as Filch had said. "When you find them, Mr. Filch," she said, as she walked away. "Bring them to the headmaster immediately,"

"Without a doubt, Professor," Filch called after her. Then he turned to Mrs. Norris again. "Let's keep on going,"

Draco watched as Filch and that dreadful cat of his walked away slowly, disappearing behind some trees.

"Hermione," he said.

"What?" she asked, still holding her hands to her face.

"This is our chance," he said, standing up. "We can get away now,"

Hermione sighed, and stood up slowly.

"Come on!" Draco urged her.

They set off towards the castle, going back on the path they came from. There was light coming from the great castle doors. 

"First problem," Hermione said as the got nearer.

Snape was patrolling the entrance, looking, if possible, crosser than usual. He walked right, and then turned, and walked towards the left.

"We have to get past him," Hermione said seriously. She looked at Draco. "Let's go,"

Careful not to make any noise, they walked towards the entrance, until they were so close to Snape they could see the anger in his black, beady eyes.

"When he turns and walks away again," Hermione whispered. "We walk inside. Simple, ins't it?"

"Too simple," Draco replied. "There could be other traps waiting for us when we get past,lurking in the dark…"

"We'll think about that later," Hermione said.

Snape turned around again, and they walked into the lighted hall. It was full of ghosts floating around, looking suspiciously around.

"Geez, it's not like we burned something down!" Draco muttered.

"Well, we scared everyone," Hermione said, pointing towards the Great Hall. 

There was no music coming from it, and it was completely dark.

A ghost started floating their way.

"Careful not to be in the way when they're around," Draco warned her. "It's really cold and… unpleasant to have them walking through you,"

"Really?" Hermione asked, scooting away just in time. "How do you know?"

"I've had…disagreeableexperiences, sneaking around Hogwarts at night,"

Hermione looked at him, shocked. 

"What?"

"Well, I always thought you were always following rules so as not to get in trouble with the teachers… specially Snape. I never thought you'd go wandering around after dark!"

Draco grinned mischiveously. "In front of a teacher, you've got to act respectfully. But when their back's turned…"

Hermione shook her head, smiling. "Well, we better go somewhere else, because it's not safe here. Let's climb the stairs,"

They went up the marble staircases, and turned a corner to find even more problems: a preffect. 

"If we got past Snape, this is no problem," Draco assured Hermione.

It wasn't a problem.

The preffect was busily studying a spot on the wall, so they had no problem getting past him.

"Let's go to the Gryffindor common room," Hermione suggested. "There we'll-"

Draco stopped walking. "No,"

"Why?"

"Just in case you _still_ haven't noticed, I'm a Slytherin, and Slytherins belong _anywhere_ but on Gryffindor tower,"

"So you'd rather go into the dungeons, where the Slytherins will be waiting for your return hungrily? You know that as soon as you walk into your common room you'll get a welcoming full of hisses and insults. Gryffindors won't do that to us-"

"Maybe to you they won't, but if they see _me_, then-"

"They won't see you because you'll be under the cloak," Hermione insisted, tugging at his sleeve. "Now come on,"

Draco and Hermione walked through many corridors full of preffects, head boys and girls, and ghosts, until they finally reached the portrait of the fat lady.

"Follow me," Hermione told Draco before taking the cloak off herself.

She said the password, and the portrait swung open.

There were Gryffindors everywhere, talking loudly, and complaining about the Ball being cancelled.

"There she is!" called out a Gryffindor, pointing at Hermione.

Before she could do anything, a dozen hands reached for her, ad she was pulled inside. 

Now she was surrounded by a crowd of yelling Gryffindors.

"Where were you?"

"Why'd you do that for?"

"Were you out of your mind?"

"Did Dumbledore catch you?"

"What _happened_ to you?"

Between a swirl of questions and confusion, she saw Harry and Ron breaking through the crowd.

"Hermione, come here," Harry said, getting her arm and pulling her through the mob of people.

Once they had fought through the crowd, Harry leaded Hermione towards the boys' dormitories while Ron and Ginny tried to hold the mob back.

The room was empty, and Harry closed the door behind him after allowing Hermione to enter.

Hermione sat on Harry's bed, and he sat on Ron's, facing her.

"Alright, Hermione," he started as he lit a candle so they could see. He seemed shocked. "What happened?"

Hermione sighed, and started to tell her story, beginning from when she had asked Draco to come to the Ball with her, until that night.

"…and now I'm here, miserable," she finished, lying down on the bed.

Harry seemed as shocked as ever. "So… let me get this straight. You asked _Malfoy_ to go the the ball with you," he blinked. "Got my invisibility cloak, danced under it, so on, so on…" he took a deep breath. "So where's Malfoy?"

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but found it wasn't necessary. 

"I'm here, Potter," Draco said, taking the cloak off him.

All this time, he had been sitting on Neville's bed, listening quietly.

Now Harry looked as if he could have been knocked over by a feather.

Hermione sat up straight.

Draco waited, examining the room.

"Right," Harry said, shaking his head. He turned to Hermione. "So now Malfoy knows I have the cloak,"

Herminoe shrugged helplessly. 

"Nice cloak, Potter," Draco said, throwing it over to him. 

Harry glared as Draco smirked.

His old personality came back whenever he wasn't alone with Hermione. 

Hermione didn't understand why Harry was glaring at Draco. After all, Draco hadn't said anything harmful… right? Or maybe it was just the mere presence of him in Harry's common room which bothered him.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and Ron came in, looking flushed.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I have good news and bad news," Ron said. "And- _Malfoy_? What are you doing here?" 

"Just having a night stroll around the Gryffindor common room," Draco answered sarcastically.

Ron stared, blinked, and then frowned. "Well, you should get out of here! This isn't _your_ common room! And don't sit on Neville's bed… his bedspread just got washed this morning!"

Draco didn't say anything, but his eyes glinted maliciously in the dark room. "Watch your mouth, Weasley," he hissed.

"What do you have to tell us?" Hermione asked quickly.

Ron shot Draco another glare before turning to his friend. "Well… the good news is that I managed to calm everyone down," 

Hermione and Harry smiled.

"The bad news is that Proffesor McGonagal is in the common room. She got back from the Hospital Wing and saw you just as you took the cloak off, Hermione," Ron explained, relating what he had heard McGonagal say. "She's waiting for you,"

Hermione went pale.

Draco stared fixedly at a spot on the wall, as if trying to ignore what Ron had just said.

Hermione tok a deep breath. "Ok," she said, and looked at Draco. "She knows I'm here, so I better go…" she stood up, and took the cloak from Harry. "Hide under this, and you might be able to slip out the door without being noticed… if you don't bump into anyone,"

Draco took the cloak, and put it over himself.

Hermione closed her eyes. When se opened them again, her look was full of determination. "Let's go,"

She walked bravely towards the door and walked out of the room.

"Miss Granger!" Proffesor McGonagall said shrilly the second she got a glimpse of her. Hermione took a good look around her. She had every pair of eyes on her, every single head was turned her way.

"Come with me inmediately!" called McGonagall. She stood silent, and then looked at Hermione suspiciously. "Where's Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco took the cloak off him and looked at everyone maliciously, as if daring them to say anything about his sudden appearance.  Then he turned to McGonagall, just as determined as Hermione. "I'm here,"

********

Ok, sorry if the scene in the garden was cheesy. I tried to add some fluff, and I hope it didn't come out TOO cheesy. Again, I apologice for not getting this chapter out soon. I was so busy studying and doing projects I barely had time to write it at all! Lol. Please review ^_^ 


	16. Chapter 16

First off, I better answer the most frequently asked question of last chapter, lol: What did they do wrong??

Well, (at least to me) they didn't do anything wrong by dancing together! It's just that they suddenly appeared out of thin air, so everyone was afraid and started screaming. THAT'S what happened. Since they scared everyone, the teachers went after them to give them a lecture on not bringing invisibility cloaks to dances ;) get it? Lol

And that's to all of my reviewers! I'm glad you still didn't forget me!

Finally this chapter is out!! And FINALLY I'm done with tests!! Believe me, it was HARD to find time to write this! (That's why it took so long)

Ok,  maybe the character's reactions were too exagerated, but… please forgive!! I'll try not to do it again! (Well, maybe I already did in this chapter.. oops . hop it doesn't happen again!)

WoOt! 618 reviews!!! Thanks to Silver Fawkes, Unicorn777, Sophiebabe, StarJade, Hermie4sev, Madelaine Foxglove, chocolat elf, Dolce Espressivo, Tom*Feltons*Babe, Angelwings, slytherin-cool, Sparkled-eyed dreamer, Starry Skies, Crystalline lily, DemonWitch666, gravidy, Gliniel de Silva Malfoy + Wood, draco's gurl, Rage, Juliet Rose Granger, Teresa, affisia, Littletiger, Dominique, Silver Masamune, Steph, Jessica, Aindel, ex-jlo, horsegrl, Scarlett, FiliaTheRyuuzoku, Vikkitoria, Calani, SVZ, TriGemini, Bean, Katcat, fb90, filles folles, willowwiccantara, sodie, sb1, Me123, OceanGuardian, Cassiel, Sara, and intuerimors  for reviewing!! Thanks for being so patient!! ^_^

******

Everyone gasped, and some first years screamed.

McGonagall looked as if she was going to fall down. She always went by the rules, so finding, for the first time in her teaching career at Hogwarts, a Slythering student in the Gryffindor common room was quite shocking. 

She didn't have strength to yell or look stern anymore, though. This last surprise had left her weak.

"Follow me, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy," she said simply, nodding at them.

Draco set the cloak on the floor, and gave Hermione an encouraging look.

McGonagall went out of the portrait, with Draco and Hermione trailing behind. 

By the time they were going down a third corridor in utter silence, McGonagall started to win her strengh back.

"I must say that I'm very disappointed in your behaviour, Miss Granger," she said, walking faster. "And that goes for you too, Mr. Malfoy. I would have never thought you to do something of this sort…"

As McGongall droned on about their misdoings, Herminoe thought, for the first time that night, just _what_ they had done wrong.

She couldn't stand to have McGongall lecturing them, so she looked at Draco, seeking comfort, but he looked deadly serious and distant. Much too different from the Draco she had known back in the garden. 

She felt butterflies in her stomach as she remembered what had almost happened in the garden.

"First of all, I just don't _know_ what you have been doing together, under that cloak!" 

Was it Hermione's imagination, or was McGonagall trying to fight a tiny smile?

McGonagall stopped before a large and extremely ugly stone gargoyle. 

"Lemon pie," she said.

The gargoyle sprang suddenly into life and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two.

Behind the wall there was a spiral staircase moving smoothly upwards, like an escalator.

McGonagall stepped onto it, and Hermione and Draco did the same, and they rose higher and higher in circles, until, at last, they could see an oak door ahead, with a brass knowcker in the shape of a griffon.

McGonagall knocked on the door.

"Come in!" a voice called behind the door.

McGonagall opened it, and the three of them slipped inside.

And, in the center of the beautiful, circular room full of interesting objects and portraits sat Dumbledore, behind a desk.

"Here they are, Proffesor Dumbledore," McGonagall said hurriedly. 

"Ah, yes, thank you, Minerva," he looked at Draco and Hermione, and signalled them to sit down on the two chairs in front of his desk.

They did as instructed, and remained quiet.

Dumbledore looked at McGonagall with a smile on his face, and nodding towards the door, but she didn't seem to want to go, though.

"Are you sure you can handle this? It _is_ a very special-"

"We'll be fine, Minerva," Dumbledore assured her.

Reluctantly she left, giving a last glance at Draco and Hermione before closing the door behind her.

Hermione and Draco looked at Dumbledore helplessly, ready to be lectured harshly.

No lecture came, though.

"So," Dumbledore said with a smile. "You've caused some great chaos tonight. May I ask what you were doing with an invisibility cloak?"

Hermione blushed deeply, and looked away. How could she possibly explain the reason of bringing the cloak to the headmaster?

Draco cleared his throat and suddenly seemed very interested on a spot on the floor.

"I believe I already know," Dumbledore said after a long silence.

Hermione looked at him, surprised. His eyes were twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles. 

"And it is very interesting," Dumbledore continued. He stared first at Hermione, and then at Draco, still giving them a very curious smile. "Very interesting indeed,"

After a moment of silence, Draco couldn't stand the look Dumbledore was giving them. "What's interesting, sir?" he asked.

"You will know shortly, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore assured him. "Quite shortly, I am sure."

He continued to smile.

Hermione was starting to wonder what they were doing in the Headmaster's office, if they weren't being lectured. 

As if reading her thoughts, Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I suppose you're wondering why you've been brought here,"

Hermione nodded.

"Well, you certainly didn't do anything wrong by dancing together," he chuckled. "Nothing wrong indeed," he stared at both of them again, smiling. "It was just your sudden appearance. You scared everyone, and the teachers could do almost nothing to calm them down. Finally, we had to cancel the Ball, as no one seemed to be in the mood of dancing anymore. They were all talking about these two mysterious subjects,"

He paused.

Hermione was looking away again, and Draco stared at Dumbledore.

A long silence hung between them, but, as neither Draco or Hermione seemed to want to say anything, Dumbledore finally broke the silence.

"You may go," he said.

Hermione looked at him yet again. "That's it?" she asked. "You're not going to punish us?"

Draco nudged her, giving her a murderous look.

Dumbledore smiled. "No. Not this time, at least. Just make sure that the next time there is a dance you don't bring that cloak,"

"Of course not, headmaster!" Hermione exclaimed.

Dumbledore nodded. "You may go now,"

Hermione and Draco both stood up and, saying good bye, they got out of the room, and went back downstairs.

As the ugly gargoyle hopped back into place, Hermione sighed with relief, and smiled up at Draco. "We didn't get punished!"

"Yes, fortunally, we didn't,"

Hermione looked around, and saw an old man dozing in a portrait nearby. "What time is it? All the portraits have gone to sleep,"

"It's probably around eleven," Draco guessed. "Why? Are you sleepy?"

"A little," Hermione admitted. "All this excitement has worn me out,"

Draco, in turn, felt just the oposite: All the excitement had taken sleep out of him.

"I'll walk you to Gryffindor tower," he offered. After all, he was anything but sleepy, and he wasn't looking forward to the welcoming party the Slytherins would give him the minute he had entered his common room.

Besides, he wanted to be with Hermione as long as possible.

"Ok," Hermione said, giving him a tired smile. "That would be nice,"

They set off towards the tower, walking throught the silent, empty corridors.

"Do you have to go to the dungeons?" Hermione asked.

"Obviously, Granger," Draco said in an arrogant tone.

She looked at him strangely.

He hadn't meant to be arrogant. He was just ashamed of feeling very worried about what would happen when he came into the dungeons, and was afraid to show it. 

Even to Hermione.

"What's wrong?" she asked, sensing something weird about him.

He merely shrugged and looked another way.

"Draco, what's the matter?" she insisted.

"_Nothing_ is the matter!" he said angrily.

They walked in silence.

Hermione didn't dare say anything, as he wasn't in a very good mood. She didn't feel hurt, because she could guess what was troubling him and, if it were happening to her, she wouldn't be really happy, either.

Draco, in turn, was sorry he had snapped at her. This could be the last time they would be together, if his father somehow found out that he had danced with a muggle born. 

They finally reached the portrait.

The fat lady was talking happily with her friend Vi.

Hermione was surprised, because, from what she had heard from Harry, the fat lady was always sleeping after eleven.

"Yes, everyone came back from the Ball and-" the fat lady glanced at Hermione and Draco, and gasped.

"Oh, Vi, it's _them_!" she exclaimed, pointing.

Hermione was feeling very uncomfortable now. She felt like a strange bug who was being stared at, and she was sure the fat lady was going to lecture her.

She was wrong, though.

Instead of lecturing, the fat lady smiled sweetly at them, and turned to her friend. "Isn't it just so _cute_? Why, I remember once when a couple went on a night stroll and-"

Draco cleared his throat.

Hermione looked at him, and saw that he was turning a bit red.

"Oh, don't be embarrased, dear," the fat lady told him. 

"If it was me, I'd lecture them," Vi said. When she looked at them, though, her expression softened. "But, as this _is_ a strange happening, and everyone is so excited about it all, I can't help but thinking that it's sweet to see them together, even if they should be in bed by now,"

The fat lady turned to Vi. "Oh, the young are always up for adventure…"

Hermione was also turning red, so she turned to Draco and let the fat lady and Vi to continue their conversation.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," she said.

Draco nodded, and started to turn around.

"And… Draco?" 

He stopped, and stared at her.

"I'd be worried, too, if I had to go into the dungeons. And scared."

They stood looking at each other silently. 

Draco didn't move. 

So she knew. She knew why he was troubled, and she wasn't laughing.

"Just know that, if you need anything, I'm here," Hermione continued, and smiled.

After a moment of silence, he nodded, and gave her a brief smile before returning to his solemn expression.

He started walking away, and Hermione opened the portrait. Before she climbed into the common room, she turned around to watch him as he left.

He suddenly stopped walking, and turned around to look straight at her. "I'm here, too, Hermione" he said silently. "If you ever need anything,"

Before she could say anything, though, he left quickly, leaving her to stare after him, holding the necklace he had given her, feeling as if something had just gone really well.

***

Draco entered the dungeons silently. 

It was deadly quiet. 

As he walked closer to his common room, everything around him got darker and damper. 

In the distance, he could water dripping. Shadows, coming from the flaming torches, danced on the wall made of stone.

Draco, of course, wasn't nervous to be here. He had gone through this passageway hundreds of times before, so it was all very familiar now.

The dungeons twisted and turned, getting colder and colder. 

He was still very worried about all the Slytherin's reactions when they saw him. He hoped that, at least, they still respected him. 

Even if they didn't fear him.

_Now I'm thinking like a Gryffindor,_ he thought.

He turned a corner and saw, next to the piece of wall that served as the entrance to the Slytherin common room, that someone was resting with their back against the wall, apparently waiting for someone.

He walked closer, and saw who it was.

Pansy. Waiting for him.

He faced the wall, ignoring her, and was about to say the password, when Pansy stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you,"

Draco stood still for a moment, and reluctantly looked at her.

"Everyone's very… altered," she said, speaking in a mysterious tone. "They feel angry. Betrayed. Everyone is asking themselves, 'How did this happen? How could a _Slytherin_ go so low as to dance with a _Gryffindor_?'" she smiled. "A shame to the whole Slytherin reputation. Comitted by no other than Draco Malfoy,"

Draco was clenching his fists, looking at Pansy angrily.

"If you go in there," Pansy continued. "Everyone will see you as something dirty. Not as a pureblood. You will be insulted and mocked," she lowered her voice to a whisper. "You will not be feared, Draco,"

_You will not be feared, Draco._

He stood still, taking in what she had just said.

Pansy smiled sweetly. "I can help you,"

Draco stood in silence. 

Pansy took this silence as an oportunity to show him her offer. She drew out her wand from her pocket.

"I can make everyone in this room think whatever I want," she said, pointing her wand towards the wall. "I can make them think none of this ever happened."

Of course. Draco had heard about this curse. 

It was dark magic.

You were able to toy around with other people's minds, making them think whatever you wanted. 

His father had told him about it, but he had never taught him how to do it. What he _did_ teach him, though, was the counter-curse.

The offer seemed very tempting.

"The only thing you need to do is forget about Hermione Granger, and I will do it,"

"No," Draco answered immediately.

That was too much. He wouldn't give Hermione's friendship for anything in the world… not even for his reputation.

Pansy pointed her wand towards him. "I can _make_ you forget,"

Draco got his wand out. "Just try it, Parkinson," he hissed. "And I will make sure something _very_ bad happens. Think you're the only one who knows dark magic?"

Pansy lowered her wand slowly, and, with an evil smile on her face, said, "Fine. I tried," 

She turned to the wall. "Mudblood hate,"

The wall split open, and revealed the Slytherin common room.

Inside were most of the Slytherins. All waiting for him.

Draco bravely stepped inside. He wasn't afraid anymore. He was ready to face every blow that came his way.

"Well, look who's here!" a Slytherin girl with long blond hair from the crowd yelled.

Draco kept on walking, ignoring her. Ignoring everyone's eyes upon him. Ignoring the burning anger he felt inside. The only thing on his mind was getting to his room. And to do that, he only needed to get past the mob of Slytherins…

"Did you bring your little mudblood friend?" a boy sneered as he passed by.

"I feel _so_ betrayed, Draco Malfoy," a girl said angrily, crossing her arms.

"Idiot!" another girl cried.

Before he knew it, he was surrounded by people who were all hissing, sneering, and mocking him.

He was in the middle of a crowd of stupid, insulting Slytherins.

That was dangerous.

Anger was boiling up inside him. He snapped.

Draco took out his wand and pointed it at the crowd. Everyone drew back, afraid of him.

"Stop this or I will curse you all!" he yelled threateningly.

Everyone stood quiet.

No one seemed to breathe.

A terrible silence hung around the room, making everyone nervous.

"If someone -anyone-" he spun around, with his wand still in front of him like a sword. He stood perfectly straight, staring at everyone with an utterly calm face. "Dares say anything to me about this, I will make sure they have a difficult time at it,"

And he left. 

The crowd parted to let him pass.

When he locked the door to his room behind him, he looked out the window in relief.

He had gained respect once more.

***

Hermione's entrance was much more pleasing.

When she came back from Dumbledore's office, almost everyone had gone to bed.

Everyone but three persons.

Ginny, who had been sitting on a sofa near the fire, jumped up and hurried over to her. "Oh my god, Hermione!" she exclaimed as she hugged her. "Are you ok?"

"Um, yes," Hermione answered, a bit surprised by the hug.

"Wow Hermione, that was great!" Ron said as he ran over to her. "Your first time at Dumbledore's office for something you've done wrong! Way to go! I knew you had it in you!"

Hermione glared at him.

"Did you get punished?" Harry wanted to know. He looked serious. 

"No. Dumbledore just told us not to bring invisibility cloaks to dances again," she bit her bottom lip. "I owe you an apology, Harry," she said. "I shouldn't have used the cloak without your permission,"

Harry smiled. "It's alright. If you used it tonight, then it was because you really needed it. I guess dancing with Malfoy was very important to you,"

Hermione blushed deeply. "N-no! I mean, I…"

"I can't believe this," Ron said, shaking his head. "_Malfoy_! Please… I thought  you had better taste making friends. Hey! Maybe he gave you something to make you like him, Hermione! Who knows? That pumpkin juice you drank at lunch looked pretty suspicious, didn't it?"

"Why shouldn't I like him as a friend?" Hermione demanded. 

Ron's mouth dropped open. "Should I begin relating all the things he's done to us since first year, Hermione?" 

"Hermione, we should go to bed," Lavender, who had been watching everything from afar,and saw another argument arising, got her arm.

Hermione smiled, and nodded. "Yes. There's been enough excitement for tonight,"

"Good night!" Harry said.

"Yeah! Hope you don't dream about that git!" Ron piped up.

"Sweet dreams," Ginny said, smiling drowsily.

"Thanks. Good night, everyone," Hermione said, and went up the stairs with Lavender.

***

Hermione lay awake, watching the shadows dancing on the ceiling. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't sleep. The scene in the garden kept popping up in her head, sending a thousand butterflies into her stomach. You'd think she would sleep soundly, after so much excitement, but she wasn't able to.

"Are you awake?" Hermione whispered, looking at Lavender's bed, which was next to hers.

"No," Lavender answered. "I can't. I was just remembering how great it was to dance with Ron tonight."

Hermione sighed. "I can't sleep either,"

Lavender turned to face her. "Why? What's wrong?"

Hermione was glad it was dark, because she felt herself blush. "I… I don't know. I guess I was remembering what happened tonight, too,"

Silence.

"What happened?" Lavender wanted to know.

"Well…" Hermion started. "Um…" she couldn't go on. She just couldn't tell Lavender. At least, not now. "Lavender? Do you think it's strange that I went to the Ball with Draco?"

"Oh, Hermione," Lavender whispered. She threw her covers back and came to sit on Hermione's bed. "Is that what's troubling you?"

Herminoe sat up and looked at her friend's caring face. She nodded. "Kind of,"

"Well… I'm not sure. At least, I don't think it was _too_ strange. I sort of could see it coming,"

"Could see what coming?"

Lavender smiled misteriously, but she didn't answer Hermione's question. "I'm sure that, if you went with him, you had a reason to do so. And as long as you're happy, then there's nothing to worry about. You're not hurting anyone by going with him, are you?"

Hermione sat in silence for a moment, but, before she could do anything about it, a tear slid down her cheek. "Yes I am," she said in a trembling voice. "I'm hurting _him_. He risked his reputation to go with me, and now everyone knows, and…" she trailed off, hoping Parvarti wouldn't wake to the sound of her sobs.

"Shh," Lavender said, throwing an arm around her friend. "If he risked that, Hermione, then it was because going with you was really important to him."

Hermione sobbed a bit more, but then eventually smiled, with red nose and red cheeks. "Thanks, Lavender," 

Lavender smiled back. "Don't mention it," she gave Hermione a hug and got off her bed. "Now, go to sleep, Hermione. Tomorrow's a new day."

Hermione nodded. Soon after she closed her eyes, and she was sound asleep.

******

Ok… I admit it, I took the part of the gargoyle suddenly coming to life (to go into Dumbledore's office) from the 2nd book…but I just didn't remember how it was! Lol. Sorry if nothing much happened in this chapter, but it's kind of the end of the, um… "First season". So the next chapter will have more things!! And again, thanks for being patient!! ^_^ it was hard to find time to write this!


	17. Chapter 17

Ok, I've decided to start a mailing list because lots of people have asked me to send them an e-mail when I update. If you want me to e-mail you, then just tell me so in your review (don't forget to leave your e-mail adress, too!) Ok?  And since I'm starting it from this chapter, then, could everyone who already asked me please ask me again? I tend to forget lots of stuff… sorrie ^_^

Someone said that they wanted Draco to be more eeeevil, that they didn't like fluff all that much. Well, I like an evil Draco too, and I'm not exactly crazy about fluff either, but if Draco's evil, then how am I supposed to get him and Hermione together?? Sorry, but he'll have to keep on improving his manners! (if he doesn't, Hermione won't go with him).

And thanks to Starry, Luna, Girl-named-Belle, ex-jlo, Crystalline Lily, Sparkled-Eyed Dreamer, Sakura angel90, LittleShyGirl, FiliaTheRyuuzoku, Tom*Feltons*Babe, Vixie Pixie, Ely-Baby, SVZ, Scarlett, Hermie4sev, Teresa, DMLvrMudbldHtr, Me123, Silver Fawkes, tiny dancer, TriGemini, Bluebird, Shivohsongbreeze, Starry Skies, draco's gurl, firegurdian, fb90, slytherin-cool, Crazee Coaky, and iceangel for reviewing!!! You guys are the best ^_^ I love you! Lol.

******

Chirstmas went by very quickly, at least for Hermione. 

To her surprise, the Gryffindors weren't mad at her. At least, not really. Sometimes they mad small comments, like, "Whoa, Hermione, are you _sure_ you felt well that night?" but nothing else. And when someone in Slytherin came up to her and said something nasty, or bumped into her on purpose, the Gryffindors would be there for her to make sure it didn't happen again. They knew Hermione wasn't a bad person, and they didn't really care if she suddenly wanted to hang out with a Slytherin. And all of this made Hermione even prouder to be in Gryffindor.

Draco's case was much different. 

Sure, the Slytherins still respected him, because, like they said, he _was_ a Malfoy. But they wouldn't talk to him. Sometimes they didn't even _look_ at him. Some of the most daring ones even glared at him. 

Draco, though, didn't care.

He wasn't ashamed of himself. He had done what he had wanted to do, and he wasn't regretting it. 

In the Great Hall, Hermione would look over at the Slytherin table and see him eating at the edge of the table, not talking to anybody. It made her sad to see him like this, because, no matter what Lavender had said that night, she still felt as if it had been her fault. At least, partly.

So when he looked over at her, she would offer him a smile. She wanted him to know that she was there for him, and that he could talk to her at any time.

They didn't talk until classes started again, though.

Somehow Draco disapeared, and Hermione, no matter where she looked, couldn't find him. 

So she was glad when lessons started again, because she would be able to see him and finally talk to him.

Their first lesson was Care of Magical Creatures.

"Welcome!" Hagrid said once everyone had gathered around his hut. "Glad ter see you all again!" he smiled at everyone, and then continued. "Before we start today's lesson, how's everyone's Joggart doing?"

No one answered. 

A guilty silence hung all around them.

Hermione looked at Ron, who was next to her. He was looking at Harry with his mouth dropping open.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"I…" he gulped, and looked at her. "I forgot all about the Joggart!"

"What?" Hermione exclaimed. "You mean you didn't feed it?"

"Don't worry," Harry told her. "I fed it," he shot Ron a murderous look. "We're _both_ supposed to take care of the Joggart, Ron! Luckily, I'm more responsible than you are,"

Instead of getting angry, Ron just sighed in relief. "Phew!" he breathed. "Imagine Hagrid's face if we had starved him!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help smiling.

Neville raised a trembling hand into the air.

"Yes, Neville?" Hagrid said.

"I…, I…"

"What?"

"I forgot to feed mine," he turned red.

"WHAT?" Hagrid roared. "You forgot ter feed him? Since when?"

"Since… since Christmas holidays started," Neville squeaked.

"Oh," Hagrid sighed with relief. "Joggarts," he explained. "Can go up to one month without eating. Sure, they'll get hungry, but they can stand up ter one month without eating. Strong creatures, they are," then he glared at Neville. "But that doesn't give you an excuse to starve 'em! You better fed him quick!"

"Yes… yes, Hagrid," Neville said. "Today,"

Hagrid smiled. "Good. Now, er… I want you all ter bring yer Joggarts ter our next lesson. I want ter see how they're doing. They must be about ready to tickle, I'm sure,"

Hermione glanced at Draco. 

He was separated from the Slytherins, with his hands in his pocket, looking at nowhere in particular.

Then she got a flashback of what had happened in the garden the night of the ball.

Draco had looked at her intently with those deep gray eyes. It had been as if he could look into her soul, as if he could turn her inside out… as if her eyes were a window to her inner self. His eyes seemed to hold an attracting power.

Then he had leaned closer, and…

Just at that moment, Draco turned his head and looked straight at her.

Hermione blushed and quickly looked away. 

Her heart was beating wildly against her chest.

But why? 

She guessed it was because Draco had looked just _then_, when she had been thinking about… _that_.

She hoped she hadn't been too rude.

***

Hermione opened her drawer and looked at Bluey. 

She hadn't really paid much attention to him all throught Christmas Holidays, although she _had_ remembered to feed him.

"Wow," she gasped, taking the soft, blued creature into her arms. "You've grown,"

It was true. Bluey was now bigger than her own hand. He was about the size of a quaffle. And, in the center of his tummy, there was a big, black spot.

"I better find Draco," she said, getting a quill and some parchments. "We should start again with the old 'Joggart meetings'"

She closed the door behind her, and went down to the common room.

"I'm going to find Draco," she informed Harry and Ron, who were discussing about quidditch. 

"Whoa," Ron said, his mouth dropping open. "Is that… is that _Bluey_?"

"Glad you finally addressed him by his name, Ron," Hermione said. "Yes, it is. Well, I better go,"

She climbed out of the portrait hole and hurried downstairs, to the Entrance Hall. This time she'd look first in the library, where she had found him when the Joggart had hatched.

She was pleased to see that, indeed, Draco was there, reading silently.

She was just about to go inside when she remembered that Madam Pince allowed no creatures within her library. 

Hermione looked down at Bluey, and he blinked at her innocently. 

She dared not leave him outside, for fear someone may take him.

Then how was she to attract Draco's attention?

"Let's see…" she muttered, setting Bluey on the floor. She got out her wand and, after some hesitation, pointed it at the book Draco held in his hands. "_Wingardium Leviosa_!"

Draco's book rose up into the air a few inches, and then dropped back into his hands.

He looked around the library, trying to see who had hit him with the levitation curse.  He wondered if it was yet another Slythering who was just trying to make a fool out of him, when he  spotted Hermione at the door, beckoninghim to come towards her.

He closed the book, and walked out of the library.

_Ok_, Hermione thought as he came closer, _don't think about the night of the Ball. Act as you've always done… stay calm!_

"Hi," she smiled up at him once he was next to her. Then she bent down and got Bluey in her arms. "He's grown, isn't he?"

Draco stared at Bluey's tummie. "It already has the black spot," 

"Soon we'll be able to tickle it!" Hermione exclaimed. She was so excited, she even jumped up and down, making Bluey gaze up at her in an annoyed sort of way. 

"Why not now?" Draco asked. "Maybe we could tickle it today,"

Hermione bit her bottom lip. "I think it's best to wait until our next Care of Magical Creatures lesson," she said. "Hagrid told us all to bring our Joggarts, so he'll know if it's the right time to do it,"

"So where do we work on the report?"

Hermione looked around her, still holding Bluey. "Well…"

"Outside?" Draco suggested.

Hermione stared at him. "Draco, we're in January, it's cold, and the grounds are covered by snow,"

Draco shrugged and looked the other way.

Hermione felt a sudden sadness take over her. Draco seemed very distant today. It was the first time she got a chance to talk to him since the Ball, and he didn't seem to be in a good mood at all.

"I suggest we sit at the bottom step of the staircases," she said, trying to remain cheerful. 

As Draco had no objections, they did what Hermione said.

Hermione heaved Bluey onto Draco's lap. "Here," she said. "Hold him while I write,"

Draco looked at Bluey curiously. 

When Hermione looked up again from her work, she saw that Draco was staring at the joggart while it blinked back. It was an interesting sight.

However, it wasn't an interesting meeting. Draco wasn't talking.

She kept on writing, but, just as she was finishing the sentence '_also, the Joggart has thicker feet'_, she just couldn't take it anymore.

"Draco," she said quietly. She looked at him. "What's wrong?"

Draco felt it was useless to keep it from Hermione, because she wouldn't give up until she knew what was bothering him. That was the way Hermione was. And he appreciated it.

"You really don't know?" he asked sarcastically, and looked right at her. "I thought the whole school knew by now,"

Hermione set the parchments and the quill on the staircases, and bit her bottom lip. There was a lump in her throat. She put her arms around her knees, and buried her face there. "It's because of me, isn't it?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady. "Everyone's treating you like this because of _me_," her voice broke. She was ashamed of herself for sounding so stupid. "I'm sorry," she whispered. 

Draco stood silent for a minute.

Great. Now he had a sobbing Gryffindor next to him. What was he supposed to do? 

He moved closer. "Hermione…"

She kept her head down and gave a few sobs. "I knew I should've never gone to that Ball. Now everyone's mad at you, and you're mad at me,"

Much to his own surprise, Draco started stroking her haid gently. "I'm not mad at you," he said softly. "I'd never be,"

Hermione's sobs started to cease,and she stood there, feeling his hands running through her hair.

It was the best feeling in the world. Draco was trying to calm her down. It was very soothing.

She finally looked up and smiled at him. "Thanks," she whispered.  

"How could you ever think I'd be mad at you?" he asked. "I'm not ashamed for doing what I did. Don't you ever blame this on yourself again, Hermione,"

That moment was very precious to Hermione. Draco's words sounded beautiful. 

They stood staring at each other, just like they had done back in the garden. It was as if Draco's eyes held every secret on earth. It was an adventure looking at them. An adventure that sent a jolt down her spine.

She looked away, a bit embarrased, and opened her mouth again to protest. "But-" 

"Hermione, I don't want to hear you say anything else on the matter," he said shortly.

Hermione, after some silence, nodded, and smiled.

"Ok then," she said brightly, as if she hadn't been crying minutes ago. "Let's get on with our project, shall we?"

***

Hagrid walked along the rows of students.

The Gryffindors and Slytherins were standing in front of his hut, holding their Joggarts.

Draco stood next to Hermione, much to Pansy's annoyance. 

Hermione felt a bit uncomfortable, since every once in a while some Slytherins would crane their heads back and glare at both Draco and Hermione.

Draco didn't seem to care, though. He looked bravely ahead, and raised his eyebrows whenever someone stared. 

"Well done!" Hagrid said. He was now standing in front of Harry and Ron, and he had Navy in his hand. "Yer Joggart is all ready to tickle!"

"Yes!" Ron said, and looked at Hermione with a triumphant grin. "We did it better than you!"

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but Hagrid did it for her.

"Actually, the longer they take, the more magic they'll have," he winked at Harry. "But yours is good enough,"

Then he passed on to Hermione. "How about yours?" he asked, getting Bluey in the palm of his hand.

Hermione waited expectantlyas Hagrid looked at Bluey curiously. 

"Very good," he said, handing it back to her. "Wait a week, and it'll be ready."

"So then, in only a week we can tickle it?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Yep," Hagrid answered, and moved on to the next Joggart.

Hermione turned to Draco. "What do you think it's going to turn to when you tickle it?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't think there's anything I truly like at the moment,"

He didn't know how wrong he was.

***

"Tickle it, Harry!" Hermione urged him.

They were in the common room, standing in a little corner that was isolated from the rest of the room.

"Do you think this is actually going to work?" Ron asked doubtfully, staring at Navy, who was on the floor, between them.

"Of course it is," Hermione answered, as if waving that thought aside, and then looked at Harry. "Come on!"

"I don't know…" Harry said. "This seems like a very private thing, don't you think?"

"Private? We're your friends! Go on and tickle the thing already!" Ron said.

Harry hesitated. "No. I think I'll tickle Navy alone, in our dormitories," he got Navy in his arms, and walked away.

Ron shrugged and sat in the nearest couch. "Might as well sit down…"

After a few mintues, Harry came down, holding the Joggart. 

Ron jumped up. "What did you get?"

"Some secret…" Harry muttered. "My firebolt,"

Ron and Hermione stared at him.

"What? It's true!" he insisted.

"That's the thing you want most?" Hermione couldn't believe it.

Harry shrugged. "Maybe it has a secret meaning, or something,"

"Maybe it does," Hermione agreed, before turning to Ron. "Tickle it,"

Ron got the Joggart from Harry. "Well, as _you_ did it privately, I'll do so, too,"

He marched off into his room, and came out about ten minutes later.

He was very red.

"What did it turn to?" Hermione wanted to know.

Ron, however, didn't seem to be able to speak. He just opened and closed his mouth, like a fish. 

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Ron turned redder than his hair.

"Why won't you say? Was it your underwear or something?" Hermione asked.

Ron shook his head furiously, and then looked at his friends. "Ca- candy," he muttered.

Now Harry and Hermione stared. 

"You're lying," Harry said. 

"I'm not! I got candy!" Ron exclaimed, and turned redder than ever. He put Navy on the floor. "I'm going to take a walk!"

Before they could stop him, Ron ran out of the common room.

Harry shook his head. "Whatever it was," he said. "It was _not_ candy,"

***

That week seemed endless to Hermione. She couldn't wait until it passed, so she could finally tickle Bluey and see what she liked most.

She did have a good time throughout it, though.

The reason was Bluey.

He kept on growing very fast, and soon it was an excuse for Draco and Hermione to meet.

It was weird to Hermione, but she found that, when there were Joggart Meetings (which went on every afternoon that week), she didn't care much about Bluey… in fact, she looked forward to seeing Draco.

They talked all throughout the meetings, and long after them. They both decided that they should meet every day, because Bluey was growing very fast, and Hermione said she wanted to capture every single detail of its last changes before tickling it. Of course, it was just an excuse to be together, and they both knew it.

Draco, apart from wanting to be out of the Slytherin common room, knew that the real reason he went out was to be with Hermione. Even if, sometimes, he didn't admit this to himself.

In the meantime, things had cooled down a bit, and the Slytherins weren't quite so harsh on Draco. When they saw him and Hermione together, working on their Joggart or, rather, talking and spending time with each other, they simply walked past. **Occasionally** they'd stare or hiss something, but it was getting old.

So Draco and Hermione talked freely, and spent hours sitting on those staircases, making each other laugh, relating stories, or telling each other something important.

They never got tired.

It seemed to them that time flew.

Sometimes they didn't notice they had spent hours talking.

But they never noticed that Pansy was watching closely.

***

Finally, the day came when Bluey was ready. 

When their lessons were over, Hermione and Draco met at the Entrance Hall. 

"Oh, I can't wait!" Hermione squealed.

Draco gave her the Joggart. "Ladies first,"

Hermione smiled. "Thanks. I'll meet you here in half an hour, ok?"

Draco nodded. "Good luck!"

"Thanks!" she said over her shoulder as she raced upstairs.

She opened the portrait hole and climbed inside. Then she raced towards her room. 

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked, running after her. 

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong, Harry," Hermione assured him. "Actually, I'm going to see what Bluey will show me when I tickle him!"

"Oh," Harry said. 

"Where's Ron?" Hermione wanted to know.

Harry pointed to the couches. "There,"

Hermione looked, and she saw Lavender and Ron sitting together and talking. 

She smiled inwardly, said good-bye to Harry, and closed the dormitory door behind her.

She set Bluey on the floor, and he blinked up at her. "Ok, Bluey," she said. "Let's see what you can do,"

She bent down, and tickled the black spot in its tummy.

She had barely touched him with her fingertips when the Joggart started spinning madly, until it was just a blue blur.

Hermione stood back, waiting.

Then the blur started to disappear, and before her she had a pale, blond boy with a pointed face in Slytherin robes, and wearing an arrogant expression.

She couldn't believe it. "Dr- Draco?" she whispered.

The replica of Draco blinked at her, and she couldn't help laughing a little.

"What does this mean?" Hermione asked the empty room. "Joggarts are supposed to tell you what you most like. Does it mean I like Draco as a friend?"

No. 

Hermione knew it wasn't true.

When she was with Draco, she didn't feel friendship. She felt something stronger. 

Much stronger. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it wasn't just friendship.

She came closer to Bluey, who was standing in the same place, blinkin at her.

Bluey watched her with his now gray eyes, and they stood there, looking at each other.

Even if Bluey now looked exactly like Draco, it didn't… _feel_ like him. There was something missing. But what was it?

Bluey wasn't cold or distant, like Draco sometimes was. 

This image of Draco looked too innocent to be the real him.

"Draco…" Hermione whispered, and reached out her hand to touch his arm, as if to make sure this was really real. 

As soon as her fingertips touched his robes, though, Bluey changed back to his Joggart form.

The door opened, and Lavender came in. "Hermione?"

"Y-yes?" Hermione asked, shaking her head as if she had just been caught daydreaming. 

"Oh, nothing…" Lavender said. "I just saw you run up to our room, and I wanted to know what was going on," she suddenly spotted Bluey standing on the floor. "What did it turn to?" she wanted to know.

"Oh, uh…" Hermione thought quickly. "It turned into my… my last perfectly done exam!"

Lavender eyed her curiously. "Are you _sure_? I thought it would've maybe turned into… you know," 

Hermione blushed, and she admitted it. "It turned into Draco,"

Lavender smiled. "I knew it,"

"And, um, now…" Hermione said quickly, trying to avoid any more questions, and getting Bluey in her arms. "I have to go and meet Draco,"

And she raced outside.

***

Draco closed his dormitory door behind him, and set Bluey on the floor. 

Hermione had just given it to him. 

She had been looking… strange. When she had seen him, she had blushed deeply, and she barely met his eyes. 

He wondered what was the reason for this sudden change. 

"Maybe you'll stay the same," Draco told the blinking Joggart. "Who knows? There's nothing I like anyway,"

He reached out his hand and tickled the creature.

Bluey started spinning madly until it was just a blue blur, and, when the spinning started to cease, out came a girl with bushy brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a Gryffindor cloak. 

Draco stood still, watching Hermione's double blinking at him.

He was paralyzed.

What did this mean? Why had it turned into Hermione? It was supposed to show him something he _liked_. He certainly liked Hermione, even if it was hard to admit it. But wasn't it supposed to turn into turn into something that wasn't alive? Something he owned? 

He was so busy trying to answer all these questions, he didn't notice the door to his dormitory was partly opened.

And he didn't notice someone was looking inside to see what was going on.

It was a shame that someone was Pansy.

"You will be sorry for this," she whispered. "Draco Malfoy,"

***

Half an hour later both he and Hermione were at the Entrance Hall again. He was going to return the Joggart to her.

Hermione was acting very odd. She didn't really pay attention to what he said. It seemed as if she were in another world. 

When they finished talking, Hermione started going up the staircases, with Bluey in her arms. She suddenly stopped.

"Draco?" she said.

He waited.

"After I leave Bluey in the common room, I'm going to go to the library to… to look up if there is a hidden meaning behind the things Joggarts turn into. Do you want to come?"

"Alright," Draco answered almost without thinking. 

Anywhere was better than his common room.

"Ok, then wait here, I'll be right back!" Hermione said.

She ran up to Gryffindor tower, put Bluey on her bed, and raced back downstairs. 

"Let's go," she said, huffing and puffing. 

In the library, Draco and Hermione looked for any book dealing with Joggarts. It was a hard task, considering that the library had thousands of books.

Finally, after half an hour of search, Hermione found a book titled _Joggarts: Meanings Behind the Objects_. It had moving picture of a Joggart turning into a kettle.

They sat down on the nearest table, and Hermione opened the book. It was like a dictionary, but, instead of having the definition of the word, it had the meaning of it.

Hermione looked in the B section for Broomstick. 

"Broomstick," she read outloud. "It means you are passionate about quidditch,"

They both stood quiet, because this information meant nothing to them. They both wanted to look up only one word. 

"Let's look up… person," Hermione said cautiously, and started turning pages, until she was in the P section.

"Person," Hermione read outloud. "Whichever person your Joggart turns to is the person you…" she stopped, and stared at the page as if she couldn't believe what she was reading.

"Love," Draco finished for her.

******

Ok, I hope that wasn't too rushed!! But YAY!! I finally got this chapter out! Since I started this story, I had been dying to write it!!! Lol. Now I just hope things didn't seem TOO rushed… but, as this IS the first chapter of the, um… "Second part" I had to start it like this! WoOt! Please review! ^_^


	18. Chapter 18

Well, glad to hear that things weren't too rushed in the last chapter! And, again, if you want to be on my mailing list please just say so on your review! (And, just in case I missed anyone and you didn't get my mail saying I updated, please remind clumsy old me that you want to be on the mailing list!)

Oh, and ex-jlo you thought that maybe Lavender was pretending to be Hermione's friend to get Ron, so I MUST let you, and everyone else who thinks that way, that that is NOT true!! Lol. (No, I'm not angry, just in case anyone thinks I am). In my Fic, Lavender is one of Hermione's closest friends, always there for her when help is needed. I chose Lavender to be Hermione's friend because I like her, and thought that it would be interesting to work with this character. Hope that made sense ^_^

And I also hope you guys like this chappie, even if it might be a bit weird. Maybe everything won't make sense at first, but keep on reading until the end and you'll get an explanation! OK? Lol ^_^

Thanks to The Blue Flying Lunchbox, XxSleepygirlxX, Sparkled-eyes Dreamer, ghosts-girl23, chocolat elf,  unicorn777, SVZ, Crystalline Lily, Eperanza, Scarlett, DMLvrMudBldHtr, CindyLea, FiliaTheRyuuzoku, Nikki, Bluebird, sakura angel90, hyper_shark, Sinders, Ely-Baby, Jayne Elizabeth, Aindel, StarJade, carnimírie, LittleShyGirl, Ellie, TriGemini, Crazee Croaky, Lucy, Me123, fb90, ex-jlo, Courtney, Silver Fawkes, mainey, *karly*, oceanguardian, sb1, Starry, Seom, Starry Skies for reviewing!!!

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

*****

Draco and Hermione stood in silence, not daring to make a sound.

_This_ had been a shock. 

Hermione hadn't expected it. 

How could it be that she loved the person who was sitting right next to her? 

She risked a glance at him, and saw that he was looking at her. Her heart started beating wildly.

If she loved him, then how come she never knew? Why had she never figured it out? But now she knew. She could _feel_ it. His presence made her feel nervous, and yet she loved it. She loved being around him, she could spend hours just being with him, without saying a word… but not now. Not today. Not after reading this. She had to go away to be alone for a while, to think.

But if she left now, it would be too rude. She would just try to slip away at the first chance she got…

She started turning pages, and muttered, "Let's look up… candy,"

Draco barely heard, because he was still in a state of shock. 

How could this be? Hermione? _Hermione Granger_?

This was bad. 

_Very_ bad.

If his father somehow found out about this, he would be furious. He would get back at Draco… or even at Hermione!

If he had known sooner…

Wait.

He _had_ known. All along, he had known he was slowly falling in love with her. He just didn't want to admit it. At the masquerade, he had known who he was dancing with _before_ she told him her name. 

And he had wanted to keep on dancing with her.

On the Christmas Ball, in the garden, he had wanted to kiss her.

And in between, they had talked and laughed, they had shared secrets and they had had touching moments. She had been warming up his heart with her smiles, her positive attitude, her playful manner… but, most of all, with her sympathy towards him. She had been kind and patient. She didn't give up. She hadn't treated him like everybody else did… like a 'Malfoy'. She had never seemed to be afraid of him at all. 

And he liked that.

Not only because she had treated him normally, but because it had been… amusing to see her bravery.

He realized now that he wanted her more than anything else in the world.

" Candy. Your favorite food is candy, and you like anything sweet…" Hermione's voice made him come back to reality.

"So, as to that you should always brush your teeth at least…"

"Hermione," Draco interrupted her. 

She didn't look his way. She just stared at the book as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Yes?"

"Why are you looking up… candy?"

"Oh, uh… because that's what Ron got, and he asked me to look it up for him," she forced a laugh. "You know how lazy Ron is…"

"Then why did you look up broomstick?" 

"Because… Ha-Harry's Joggart turned into his firebolt," she wouldn't look at him.

"And… why did you look for person?" he asked, coming closer, wanting her to look into his eyes.

She didn't say anything for a while, but finally she turned and looked straight at him. "Because…" she thought about an answer. Should she tell him? No. Yes! No!! What should she do? "Because Lavender's Joggart turned into a person," she said quickly.

_Sorry, Lavender,_ she thought.

Draco stared at her suspiciously. 

Of course. 

He hadn't really been hopeful, anyway. How could she love him, after the way he had treated her? He didn't deserve her heart. She had no feelings towards him.

Unless she was lying…

Hermione had always been bad at lying. He looked at her, and saw that she was looking away uncomfortably. 

_Was_ she lying? At least, he hoped she had been lying. But why should she? She had no reason to! She never lied to him. She had no reason to do so now. He was just stupidly wanting her to love him, while he knew that would never happen.

Hermione suddenly stood up. "Er… I better put this back," she got the book and hurried over to the shelves.

"You're leaving?" Draco asked, also getting up, and walking after her.

"Yes," she answered, putting the book back and walking towards the exit. "I promised Harry I'd help him with his homework," she was almost out of the library.

"Hermione," Draco said quietly behind her.

She stopped, staring straight ahead. She was both glad and uncomfortable about the fact that he was calling her, making her stay with him for a longer while. Why now? Why not later? She wanted to be alone, to get away for a while…

She turned around and faced him. 

They stood staring at each other like they had done so many times before, until, finally, Draco broke the silence and said, softly, "What did Bluey turn into?"

Hermione stood silent. How could he ask such a question? She couldn't tell him. She wasn't ready to yet.

"Draco…" she said. She wanted to look away, but those gray eyes kept her prisoner. She took a deep breath. "All I can say is that it turned into something I really appreciate and… love,"

And, before he could question her any further, she turned around and left quickly.

***

Hermione climbed into the portrait hole. 

"Hermione!" Ron said, waving frantically from the couches. "Where did you go?"

"Oh, um… to the library," she answered, coming over and sitting next to him.

"I didn't know we had any homework today," Harry said.

"No, I went to look for a book that would tell me the meanings behind the things the Joggarts turned to," she turned to Ron. "Candy means that your favorite food is candy, and that you like anything sweet, so you must brush your teeth at least four times a day."

Ron looked at her blankly. "Why candy?"

Now _she_ looked blankly at him. "Um. Ron? Navy turned into candy for you. At least, you said so,"

Ron turned as red as his hair, and looked away. "Oh, uh… yes, that's right,"

After looking at him curiously, Hermione turned to Harry. "Broomstick means you are passionate about quidditch,"

Harry grinned. "So I am… by the way, what did _your_ Joggart turn into?"

Hermione felt herself blushing… again. "Something I really love,"

Ron blinked. "Well, obviously! That's what Joggarts are supposed to do! So what _did_ did turn into?"

Hermione smiled misteriously. "Secret," she whispered, and stood up. "Now, I'm going to go to my room,"

And she lelft the two boys to stare after her, wondering just what in the world that secret was. 

***

Two days after, Hermione and Draco met again to finally finish their Joggart report. 

They both knew what they felt for each other now and, although they were a bit shy at first, they started talking and joking soon. 

"It has now reached a proper size for an adult Joggart," Hermione read outloud what she had just written down. "And its magic has been very powerful." She looked at Draco. "Hagrid said that we could write down what our Joggarts had turned into… but it was voluntary. Do… do you want to write it down?"

Draco thought for a moment, but then slowly shook his head. What good was there to tell her? She would never feel the same for him. He didn't want to tell her. It might even scare her, as innocent as she was, to know that he loved her. Maybe she wouldn't talk to him at all. He didn't want to ruin their friendship. "No. It was very personal,"

Hermione seemed relieved, because, if he had said it, then she would have been forced to say it, too. 

"Ok then," she said, and wrote the final sentence. "We're done!" she said. She tried her best to look cheerful, but it was hard, because she didn't want to end their Joggart Meetings. It was the perfect excuse to be together! "Now we just have to put our names here…" she wrote her name under her last paragraph**, **and handed Draco the quill.

He wrote his name under hers, in a writing as perfect and neat as Hermione's. 

That was it. 

Their project was over.

They didn't want to leave yet, though, so, as they had been doing for quite some time now, they started talking the hours away.

***

Draco walked alone, heading towards his common room.

Just in front of the entrance, though, Pansy was waiting. 

She smiled. It wasn't a sweet smile. It was an evil one.

"Draco, Draco, Draco," she said, slowly walking closer to him.

He stared, wondering what she wanted _now_. 

"I think you should know that I have just done you a favor."

He looked at her suspiciously.

"I'm afraid," she went on. "That you have been spending too much time with that Mudblood, Granger,"

He clenched his fists.

"So I decided to help you come back to your senses," she stopped in front of him, and stared right into his eyes. "Do you know what I did, Draco?" her smile widened. "I wrote to my parents about you. About your Joggart. About how it turned into that filthy Gryffindor. And I'm sure my parents will let your father know as soon as possible."

For a moment, Draco's eyes reflected fear. In a moment, though, he had recovered

And he was enraged.

He took out his wand, and pointed it at Pansy. Without thinking about what he was going to do, he yelled, "_Reducto_!"

Pansy blasted backwards, and slamed into the wall.

Draco stood there, still pointing at Pansy with his wand.

Pansy was on the floor. Her nose, hands and knees were bleeding. She opened her eyes weakly, and looked at him with a look full of fear. When Draco got angry, he was _very_ dangerous. 

Specially if he had his wand with him. 

"How dare you write to your parents?" Draco hissed.

Pansy was slowly sitting up. Her robes were damp and dirty now, and her hair was tangled. 

She looked like she had been fighting an ogre.

"How dare you?" he yelled.

"Mr. Malfoy?" 

Draco turned sharply around, and was face to face with Snape. 

Snape's eyes travelled from Draco to Pansy, who was still having trouble getting up, and then to Draco's wand.

"Pr-professor…" Draco stuttered.

"Well, Draco," Snape finally said after he had recovered from the shock. "We're in trouble, aren't we?"

***

Hermione looked over at the Slytherin table. "Where's Draco?" she asked. 

Ron, who was sitting by Lavender, shrugged. "Who cares?" he turnd to Lavender. "Are you going to eat that?"

Hermione looked at Harry, but he didn't seem to know either.

"**Haven't **you heard?" Seamus, who was sitting in front of Hermione, asked. "They say Malfoy hexed Pansy Parkinson this afternoon,"

"What?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Has he been expelled?" Ron asked hopefully.

"No. But he's been sent home for a few days,"

"Shame…" Ron muttered, and then turned to Lavender again.

"He's been sent home?" Hermione asked. 

How could this be? Why had Draco suddenly hexed Pansy? Had he finally lost control of himself?

"Same old Malfoy," Neville muttered.

Hermione glared at him. "Pansy Parkinson is very annoying, Neville! It was only normal he hexed her!" 

Hermione couldn't believe what she was saying because, in fact, she _didn't_ think it was normal.

Neville looked at his potatoes again, and didn't say anything else for the rest of the evening.

***

The next four days weren't cheerful for Hermione. 

The main reason was that Draco wasn't at Hogwarts. She couldn't talk to him. She couldn't even _look_ at him! She spent all her time wondering just what had happened for Draco to be so aggressive. When he came, she would march up to him and demand an explanation of everything that had happened.What was he thinking? What had caused him to hexe Pansy?  Did he know how worried she was? Was he ok?

All these questions, and many more, tormented her throughout those days.

But then, on a fine Sunday afternoon, she heard from Parvarti that Draco had returned.

"Did you see him?" Hermione asked. She had been reading on her bed, but she soon threw the book aside and looked at Parvarti, desperate for any news of him.

"Yes," Parvarti answered as she put on her makeup. "I saw him on his way towards the dungeons after breakfast,"

Hermione jumped out of bed and ran towards the common room.

"Hermione, where's the fire?" Ron asked from the window.

Hermione didn't answer.

She ran out of the portrait hole and down the marble staircases.

She didn't care if she had to search the whole castle for Draco… but she was going to find him.

She checked in the library first, but he wasn't there.

She went up and down all the corridors, but there was no sign of him.

But, as she went past the entrace to the dungeons, she heard Pansy giggling.

"Oh, Draco, stop!"

Hermione entered the damp dungeons, following Pansy's giggles.

"Come here," Draco said.

Hermione's pace quickened at the sound of Draco's voice.

She turned a corner, and found Draco.

And he was kissing Pansy.

He had her around the waist, and he was leaning down.

And their lips were definitely touching.

It was as if someone had just thrown a bucket full of icy water on Hermione's head.

As if she were falling into an endless dark pit.

As if someone had just  kicked her in the stomach.

As if a knife had just gone  through her heart.

Draco suddenly looked up, and stabbedhis eyes into her own. Something that was so familiar to her now. 

Fighting back tears, she turned around, and started to run away.

"Hermione!" Draco yelled after her, and gave chase.****

Hermione didn't listen. All she knew was that she wanted to get out of the dungeons, away…

"Hermione!" Draco's voice echoed through the empty corridors.

She ran out of the dungeons, and started to run towards the staircases.

She was barely there when  Draco got her arm tightly, whirled her around, and kissed her. 

He wanted to explain to her all that had happened since he had been sent home. He wanted to explain how much he loved her, how much pain he was feeling, how much he desired her… and the best way he found was by a kiss.

It wasn't a gentle kiss. 

It was more of a violent one, considering the way Draco had wirled her around and slamed his lips against hers.

For a moment, Hermione started kissing back, but, as if she had just realized what she was doing, she pulled her head away, and looked at him angrily.

There was hunger in his eyes. He desired something, and he was used to getting everything he wanted.

He was frustrated.

She tried to pull away from him, but his grip on her arms were tight. 

"Let me go," Hermione said weakly with the few energy she had left.

"Hermione, let me explain…" Draco started.

"Let me go, Malfoy!" she yelled.

She soon regretted it, though. Draco's eyes filled with hurt. She had called him Malfoy. She hated him. 

Draco loosened his grip, and Hermione was free at last. 

She looked at him, and started walking backwards slowly, fighting back the tears which were so obviously going to stream down at any moment now.

She turned on her heel, and ran to the safety of her common room.

***

Draco had locked himself in his own room. He was looking out the window, thinking about everything that had happened since he had walked into Malfoy Manor…

He had been immediately called to his father's office.

"I'm very disappointed in you, boy," his Father said behind his office desk. "The Parkinsons have told me about your feelings towards that filthy mudblood. I never thought you'd go this low. You've insulted the whole Malfoy generation!" he yelled. He stood up and came close to him.

For once, Draco didn't cower.Instead, he stood up straight and looked straight in his father's eyes, which were colder even than his own.

"But I shall protect our reputation," his father said with a cruel smile spreading across his face. "Oh yes." He took out his wand, and pointed it at Draco. "You will be under my command now. Under the imperius curse,"

He said no more. He pointed his wand at Draco. "_Imperio_!" he yelled.

Draco wasn't quick enough. He had been getting out his wand, but his father had done it first.

Now he felt the most wonderful feeling. He felt a floating sensation, as if every thought and vorry in his head was wiped away gently, leaving nothing but a strange happiness. 

Then his father's voice echoed somewhere in his head, saying, "_Go into your room_,"

Draco turned around and left the office.

"_And stay there until you go back to Hogwarts_,"

And he did just that. 

His servants brought him food, and his mother would come to visit him once in a while. 

When he had returned to Hogwarts, his father's first command was to go to his common room.

"_Find Pansy_," was the next one.

"_Apologice for everything you've done to her. Say you love her_," was the third.

"_Go with her everywhere. Spend your time with her,_" was the other one.

"_Kiss her_," 

And then he had seen Hermione. She had looked at him, as if she couldn't quite believe he was kissing Pansy Parkinson. 

Then she had run away.

And his heart had screamed at him to run after her.

"_Don't_," his father's voice had said in a soothing tone. "_Leave her. Don't chase her. Go with Pansy…_" 

But a _much_ stronger voice had yelled, "Go after Hermione!"

And he had done so. 

He had broken the spell. 

Now he was no longer under the imperius curse, and he was free to do as he liked. 

But he didn't have Hermione. She was angry with him.

But… why should she be angry? She felt nothing for him! Right?

Oh. 

_There is a very logical explanation of why she is mad at you_, Draco thought. _You don't go around kissing two girls in the same afternoon. Specially if the one you love doesn't love you back, meaning she didn't want me to kiss her._

But then why had she given him that look when she had seen him and Pansy kissing? Why had she ran away?

He didn't know. 

All he knew was that Hermione was angry with him, and he didn't know how he was going to explain to her everything that had happened.

But he would find a way. Any way.

He needed to get Hermione back.

*****

Ok, I know that this kiss wasn't the gentle, nice, mushy-gushy one you were probably expecting, but hey, it's a start! And I hope this chapter wasn't too cheesy .  And sorry I had to cut it here, but I needed to in order for my next chapter to come out nicely! Lol.


	19. Chapter 19

I think there's a few people who didn't quite understand the last chapter, so I will explain: Lucius Malfoy put Draco under the imperius curse, so he controlled Draco's actions. _That's_ why he kissed Pansy. But when he saw Hermione, he broke the curse and willingly (no one was controlling him this time, because he _had_ broken the curse) he kissed her. If someone still doesn't understand please e-mail me and I'll try to explain it better.

Oh, and someone asked me a looooong time ago how old I was. I'm fourteen. Sorry for not answering sooner! 

Ok, this chapter doesn't have much action… BUT it has to be this way in order for my next chapter to come out nicely. All my chapters are linked together, and, depending on how one goes, the next one will turn either exciting, or calm. Er… hope that made sense ^_^ 

And I am SO sorry for not updating sooner!! But we're starting with our tests again . *cries* 

I'm surprised to many people signed up for the mailing list! Lol. I never thought so many people were interested… again, if you want to be in it, please say so in your review!

WOW!! 767 REVIEWS!! Lol. Thanks to Aindel, Girl-Named-Belle, Scarlett, Kate, She who is annoyed, SunshineMelody, sierradogbaby, TriGemini, freakyleaopard, *karly*, Nikki, SVZ, Rage, Sparkle-eyedDreamer, Sailor Moon Rose, Crystalline Lily, Lightning, sb1, willowwiccantara, Courtney, AngelEyes101, Blak n Blu, BlueBird, Elise Tucker, Draco Lover, hyper_shark, mainey, SophieBabe, Laura, ex-jlo, pamela, Brit, ashley, FiliaTheRyuuzoku, Steph, Shivohnsongbreeze, Proffesor Smith, Tom*Feltons*Babe, The Blue Flying lunch Box, _someOne, sierradogbaby, Guardian Storm Demon, Joanna, Sarah, oceanguardian, Cindylea, DMLvrMudbldHtr, sqt Pepper, Intuerimors, Ely-Baby, Silver Fawkes, JenCarpeDiem, Jayne Elizabeth, Unicorn777, fb90, hunnie angel, Fire Phoenix, Zeriae, Jasmine, kelsey, Crazee Croaky, iceangel, Vixie Pixie, Fire Demon, Starry Skies, Saiera, Demon Child, Anonymous, and SwimminisSweet676 for reviewing!! I love you guys! Lol. 

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary

****

When Lavender entered her room, she found Hermione lying on her bed, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Hermione!" Lavender exclaimed, and quickly came over to her. "What's wrong?"

That only made Hermione cry harder, because, in her opinion _everything_ was wrong.

Lavender sat by her patiently.

Then, between sobs, Hermione said, "Draco kissed me,"

"Shouldn't that make you happy?" Lavender asked.

Hermione shook her head madly. "Before that, he kissed Pansy,"

She started sobbing again. She put her face in her pillow, and, after a while, calmed down.

She looked up. "Why did he kiss me, Lavender?" she asked softly. 

"Well, normally, if you kiss someones, it means you love them," Lavender suggested.

"Then why did he kiss Pansy? Does he love her, too?" she wiped away the few tears that were still going down her cheeks. "He can't love both of us. In fact," she sobbed. "He can't love _me_. I'm a Gryffindor, Pansy's a Slytherin…"

"But there must be a reason!" Lavender insisted.

"Well, I don't care what the reason is!" Hermione exclaimed. "But he's not going to go around making a fool of me!"

She put her fingers around the silver necklace Draco had given her, and threw it as hard as she could to the floor. It was as if she wanted to get rid of anything that might connect her to the Malfoys. 

She looked out the window as the last rays of sun disappeared.****

"What did your Joggart turn into?" she asked after a few minutes of silence, wanting to talk about something else.

That made Lavender grin. "You really can't tell?"

Hermione smiled. "Ron,"

Lavender nodded, and then added, casually, "Do you know, by any chance, what _his_ Jogart turned into?"

"He said it turned into candy. But I don't think that's true," 

"Oh," Lavender sounded dissapointed, and looked at the floor, biting her bottom lip.

Now it was Hermione's turn to cheer her up. "Come on, Lavender, I _know_ you can conquer Ron's heart!"

It worked. Lavender smiled. "Thanks,"

Just then, Parvarti entered the dormitory, and stretched. "I'm tired…" she explained, seeing Hermione's face. "Hey Lavender, let's go down to dinner,"

Lavender got up from the bed, and smiled at Hermione. "If you need anything, just tell me," she said, and walked out of the room with Parvarti by her side.

If she needed anything? 

She needed Draco, that's what she needed.

She looked at the necklace again. There was that cold, silver snake around the letter M, lying on the floor, helpless. 

She sighed, and picked it up again. Slowly she put it around her neck, and felt the M with her fingers. "I hate you," she whispered.

But, in the deepest corner of her heart, she knew it wasn't true.

***

At dinner, Hermione couldn't bring herself to look at the Slytherin table.

She could've gone without dinner, but to avoid any sort of questioning from Harry and Ron, she acted as normally as she could.

Which wasn't enough.

At least, not for Harry.

He had known something was wrong the minute he had glanced at Hermione. She wasn't her cheery self. She wasn't smiling, wasn't laughing… she wasn't the Hermione he knew.

In the common room Hermione didn't participate much in the conversations they usually had before going to bed.

"I'm going to bed," she finally said, getting up.

"So soon?" Harry wanted to know. "Aren't you feeling well?"

"Well, I…"

Harry reached out, got her by the wrist, and sat her down by his side. "I want to talk to you," he whispered.

Reluctantly she nodded. 

Once the common room was empty, and they had convinced Ron to go to sleep, Harry turned to her. "What's wrong?"

Hermione tried to look surprise. "Nothing's wrong, Harry,"

Harry's eyebrows furrowedas he looked at her closely. "Yes, there is," he insisted. "You've barely talked since you came back from seeing Malfoy-"

"How did you know I saw him?" she cut him off.

"The look on your face when you left the common room, as if there was something you needed to see terribly,"

Hermione blushed and looked away.

Harry got her hand in his.   
Hermione looked at him, startled. 

"Tell me what troubles you, 'mione," he said softly, rubbing her hand with his finger.

Somehow this affectionate gesture made her cry again. The tears began to go down her cheeks. 

She cried softly. Not hard, but softly.

Harry held her hand the whole time, and didn't make a sound. The fire crackled, heating the room. The once sunny sky had clouded, and the rain was tapping against the windows gently, as if the sky were crying, too. And together sat the two friends, one sobbing, the other remaining respectfully silent.

Finally Hermione calmed down, and she couldn't help telling Harry.

"My Joggart turned into Draco," she began. Her cheeks and nose were red from crying, and her eyes were watery. "If a Joggart turns into a person, it means love,"

Harry didn't make any sign of emotion. He continued to silently stare.

"Today I saw him kissing Pansy Parkinson," surprisingly, Hermione didn't feel embarrased while she told this to Harry. It seemed perfectly natural to her, and she knew Harry wouldn't laugh. He'd understand. But retelling the story was painful… it was as if she were living it over again.

She was finally finished, though, and she felt better, as if she had just taken off something really heavy from he shoulders. 

For a moment they stood silent.

"Well, thanks for telling me," Harry said finally. "I was really beginning to worry," 

Hermione smiled. "Thanks for worrying,"

She leaned her head on Harry's shoulder, and soon she was fast asleep.

***

"HARRY! HERMIONE!" Ron yelled at the top of his lungs.

Hermione opened her eyes and sat up drowsily. She looked around her. "Oh no! Don't tell me I've slept in the common room!"

Ron looked strangely at her. 

Harry opened his eyes and stretched. 

They were both still sitting on the sofa. In the fireplace there was only ember covered in ashes, and the first rays of light were lighting the room.

"So _what_, may I ask, were you two doing sleeping on the common room's sofa?" Ron demanded.

Hermione looked at Harry, wondering just what _were_ they doing here.

"Well, er…" he looked at Ron. "Hermione and I stayed up talking last night,"

Ron looked strangely at them again. "Well, I better dress up," he eyed them. "Not that you'll need to do so, as you still have yesterday's clothes on."

He left.

Hermione looked at Harry. "Why didn't you wake me?" she asked. 

He shrugged again. "You just fell asleep resting your head on my shoulder, and I didn't dare move, because you might wake up. I didn't want you to wake, because, after such an exciting day, it was a miracle you slept so soundly,"

She smiled. "Thanks, then,"

She stood up and yawned. "I'm going to take a shower. You should go to your room," she advised him. "Everyone's going to come down soon,"

Harry nodded and stood up. "See you at breakfast,"

***

After that, Harry was almost always with Hermione. He accompanied her everywhere, talked to her, made her laugh. He was like her bodyguard.

And Hermione appreciated it, because that prevented Draco from getting near her. Besides, Harry took her mind off Draco. So they spent a lot of time together.

This really bothered Draco, of course. 

He watched from afar as she and Potter talked and laughed.

_I could be doing that_, he thought glumly one day in potions, _if my Father hadn't come along and ruined everything_.

Pansy, who was sitting next to him, pinched him playfully. "How come you don't pay attention to me anymore?"

Draco decided not to tell her about the imperious curse, because, if he did, she would probably tell her parents, and her parents would tell his.

But of course, his father knew.

Draco had broken the curse, so his father was bound to know, as he was the one controlling him.

Now it was just a matter of time before he made another move.

"Huh?" Pansy insisted.

_She's still wearing the necklace I gave her_, he observed.

"Draco!" Pansy kicked him. "Are you listening to me?"

Draco resisted the urge to kick her back, and simply stared. "What?"

"I _said_, why aren't you paying attention to me?"

"I'm listening to Snape," he said through gritted teeth.

Pansy raised her eyebrows. "Is Snape more important to you than me?" she asked sweetly.

Draco really didn't want to answer that one, so he just looked away and started writing. 

_I need to talk to Hermione_, he kept on thinking. _ I need to explain to her everything that's been going on._

"Mr. Malfoy," Snape said. "Could you please tell us what polyjuice potions are for?"

Draco looked up. This was such an easy question. "When someone drinks the potion they turn into someone else, as long as they have added a hair, or a nail, or anything else, from that someone else,"

"Excellent," Snape said. "Ten points for Slytherin,"

Draco looked at Hermione again, and caught her eye. She turned away sharply.

He definitelyneeded to talk to her.

***

It went on like this. 

Harry and Hermione went everywhere together, Draco watched from afar with jealousy, and at the same time he had to avoid Pansy.

On and on.

January passed, and soon they were into February.

One day Draco came to think that Harry was in love with Hermione, and wanted her all for himself.

The next day, he was sure she was in love with him too.

He couldn't stand it.

So, one day, he saw her walking down the corridor.

Alone.

For a moment he hesitated. They hadn't talked for so long, hadn't made eye-contact… but he had to do it.

"Hermione," he said.

She looked at him and, for the first time from what seemed ages, they looked into each other's eyes. 

It was so familiar.

For a moment Draco thought he saw happinessin her eyes.

But she looked away, turned around, and walked the other way.

No. He wouldn't let her go!

Draco walked quickly, and blocked her way. "Hermione, listen to me…"

"I don't remember ever saying you could talk to me," she answered sharply.

"You never said I couldn't," he reminded her.

She gave him an angry stare, dodged him, and started walking away again.

Draco was beginning to get angry.

He blocked her way again. "Hermione, _please_ just listen to me!"

"Why should I?" she asked loudly. "Why should I listen? Why should I talk to you?"

"I want to explain what **happened** the other day, why I was kissing Parkinson,"

Right at that moment, Pansy appeared. She took Draco's arm and looked at Hermione with a look that clearly stated 'Back Off' 

"He did it because he loves me," Pansy informed her.

Now Draco thought he saw sadness in Hermione's eyes.

"Well, I would love to listen to your explanation, Draco, but I see you're busy," she started to walk away but, just as she passed Pansy, she stopped next to her, and intentionally added, "It would be very pleasing to know why I saw you kissing _her_," she looked at Pansy. "And then why you kissed _me_,"

And, happily leaving an astonished Pansy behind, she left.

Pansy looked at Draco, her mouth dropping open, with a stare full of pure anger.

_Oh no, Hermione_, Draco thought. _What have you done?_

He was in trouble.

***

Hermione walked into the common room angrily. 

She looked around. Ron and Lavender were sitting on a couch, in a deep conversation. 

Harry was out practicing quidditch.

There was nothing that could take her mind off Draco.

Except homework.

She sat down on the nearest chair and set her things on the desk.

But, for once, she didn't feel like doing her homework. Instead she stood up and looked out the window. Far away, in the quidditch field, she could see little red dots flying about. Obviously the Gryffindor team.

_I need some fresh air_, she decided. 

So while Draco tried to avoid Pansy in the dungeons, Hermione got her cloak and went down the stairs, and out of the castle. She went down to the lake, and rested her back against a tree, watching the sun going down.

Innocently she stood, without knowing all the trouble that was to come.

***

The next day, Pansy acted oddly… nice.

She didn't bother Draco, didn't demand his attention, didn't hug him. 

Nothing. 

When Draco had been about to go out the common room to have some breakfast, she had been sitting on one of the couches. 

When she saw him, she only rised her eyes briefly from the book she was reading and said, "Oh, hi Draco,"

That was it.

Of course, this was highly suspicious.

Maybe something was wrong.

So, when he saw his Father that afternoon, he was _sure_ something was wrong.

Lucius Malfoy was walking out of the library.

"Father?" Draco asked in an astonished tone of voice. 

Lucius stared at him as if he were something disgusting. "Draco,"

"What are you doing here?" Draco demanded. 

He was here to casue trouble. He could _feel_ it. His eyes were colder than usual, he looked strangely happy… and he only came to Hogwarts when something was wrong.

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think that was any of your business, boy." 

People were starting to whisper amongst themselves. After all, it was the first time they saw Lucius Malfoy in person.

"You're here for trouble, aren't you?"  Draco went on. "I broke the imperius curse, and you're here for more. Well, it won't work. I know how to break it now,"

"Hush," his father commanded. "I have no intention whatsoever of putting you under any curse,"

That's when Draco noticed that Hermione was walking towards them. Heading towards the library, no doubt.

"Ah," Lucius said as Hermione passed by. "Is this Miss Granger?"

Hermione stopped, and looked from Draco to Lucius, as if they were both in on a plan to do something against her. 

"Now, don't worry, I wasn't insulting you," Lucius said. It wasn't a soothing voice. It was more of a mocking one. "You see, I've heard _so_ much about you. I wanted to finally see you,"

Hermione gave one last angry stare at Draco, and left them both standing at the door.

Lucius smiled unpleasantly, and left.

What was going on? 

What was his father doing here?

And what did he want?

_There's only one way to find out_, he thought.

And that was to follow his Father. 

So that's what he did, all afternoon. His father, though, didn't do anything suspicious. He walked around the castle, walked around the castle grounds, and even greeted Dumbledoor. Draco didn't get caught. Since he was very little he'd had to sneak around their mansion, either to find something out, or to look for something important. 

He was used to it, and he had trained himself to be quick and silent.

Once Lucius had walked around the castle for a while longer, he returned to the library. Draco followed, and hid behind one of the many bookshelves.

Lucius had stopped in front of a desk, and he was looking at a book that was resting on it. "This should be interesting…" he said as he took the book into his hands, and put it in his pocket.

Then he walked out of the door, and Draco started following once again. 

His father went out of the castle and got into a carriage that was obviously waiting for him. Draco recogniced it as one of _their _carriages, the big, dark ones they had at home. 

As he watched the carriage leaving, there was only one question running through his mind: _Why had his father come?_

***

It was evening when his question was answered. He was in his room, doing his homework, when he heard something tapping his window. He turned sharply around and there he found his eagle owl, tapping the glass madly.

Draco stood up and opened the window, letting in both his owl and a cold gust of air. 

The owl flew to Draco's chair, and held its leg out, from which hung a letter.

Draco unwrapped it from its leg, ad the owl flew out of the window, which was still open.

Draco unfolded the letter, and immediately recognized his father's writing.

_Draco,_

_I am on my way back to our mansion. You're probably wondering why I visited that filthy school. Well, I'll ask you this: Have you seen that Granger lately? _

Draco felt as if his stomach had suddenly emptied. These were not good news. He kept on reading.

I'm afraid you won't be seeing her for long. Why? Because she's right here, with me. Locked up tight in a book. The Malfoy Book. 

Draco felt anger rising up inside him. The Malfoy book. The Malfoy book! Hermione was locked inside its pages! How could this be? How had his father dared to do such a thing?

Yes, Draco. Your little mudblood friend was foolish enough to open it. Curiosity killed the cat, didn't it? I'm afraid she was too nosy. But don't worry, she'll be fine. She can wander around the pages forever. She will be with the Malfoys for eternity.

_Lucius_

Draco's hands started trembling, and he ripped up the letter into little pieces. 

Hermione. Hermione was gone. She wasn't at Hogwarts. She was in one of the worst places to be: the Malfoy Book. 

"I've got to get her back," Draco told the empty room. "I'm going to get her back!" He didn't exactly know how he would do it, but he was certain he _would._

But first, much to his own displeasure, he had to tell Potter and Weasley.

*****

Ok, so not much happened in this chapter, but the next one will have more things, I promise! Don't worry, I'll explain everything you need to know about he Malfoy Book in the next chapter, but I'm leaving it like this for suspense. And, again, I apologice for taking so long with this chappie! Please review ^_^


	20. Chapter 20

First,  SORRY for not updating sooner!! I really, really couldn'ts with all these tests… besides, I've been busy with some other personal things, AND my computer wouldn't let me access the internet for a few days!! Believe me, it was HARD finding time to write this, so I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to Ellie, Meryl and Silver Fawkes, Chocolat elf, willow, Kelsey, The Blue Flying Lunch Box, Winnie, TriGemini, Crystalline Lily, DMLvrMudBldHtr, Meg, SVZ, Joanna, GryffindorBabe, nina217, Jenna-chan, Steph, Dreaming One, FairyFloss, iris pollens, CindyLea, Tom*Feltons*Babe, Scarlett, ju, ash, Nikki, MusikLuver, Aindel Shivohnsongbreeze, a reader, Vixie Pixie, Elise Tucker, Eleanor Branstone, swimmingisSWEET676, SophieBabe, fb90, ex-jlo, RE16, Hatokirei, Crazee Coaky, pampers, Zeriae, xosuavisangelaox, willowwiccantara, Me123, EgyptianQueen17, flutterflyqt1, Ely-Baby, Seom, Starry, sb1, Nita, Ezmeralda, c, Fire Phoenix, Starry Skies, WaterDemon900, Desi Gemini 6089, draco'sfemmefatable, and Chit Chat for reviewing!!

******

Just as expected, Hermione wasn't at dinner. 

Draco missed her now more than ever.

Before she had been angry with him, they had always stole glances at each other. But now she wasn't even _sitting_ there.

It really hurt Draco. He wanted to do _something_ that could help her, but he couldn't think what. Maybe, if he had time to carefully think up a way to get her back…

But there _was_ no time! 

He looked at the Gryffindor table. Potter looked strange, probably wondering the cause of her sudden disappearance.

Draco knew he had to tell him, and Weasley too. Not only because they were her two best friends, but also because he needed them, ashamed as he was to admit it. 

He, Draco, knew how to get to their manor, knew all the secret passageways, knew where everything was… but, to come out with a decent plan he needed both wits and bravery. 

Not that Draco wasn't brave. 

He just didn't know it.

So, when dinner was over, he walked over to Harry and Ron as quickly as he could. All the Gryffindors were going up the stairs towards their common room, but he managed to draw them apart from the group.

Harry looked strangely at him, and Ron simply looked away, too disgusted to hold Draco in his eyes.

"I need to talk to you, Potter," he told Harry. He really hated to do this, but, if it was for Hermione, then it must be done. 

"Oh, no," Ron said, and took a step closer to Draco. "You're _not_ going to curse him,"

Draco glared at him. "I had no intention of doing so, Weasley," he turnd to Harry again. "I know where Hermione is,"

That, of course, grabbed their attention.

"It was you!" Ron exclaimed, pointing an acusing finger at Draco. "You took her away! You filthy-"

"Ron!" Harry hissed. He looked at Draco with a face that clearly stated he was deadly serious. "Where is she?"

Draco found it hard to say, because it wasn't everyday you got caught in a book. 

"She's strapped in a book,"

They stared at him blankly. 

"My father," he started in an irritated sort of voice. "Came to Hogwarts today. He brought a book… the Malfoy Book,"

"What's the Malfoy Book?" Ron wanted to know. He wasn't really believing any of this.

Draco hesitated. He didn't really want to say this. "It's a sort of memory book. The Malfoys have had it for generations. Inside lay the most intense memories of each Malfoy ever to be born since the book was started. Including mine,"

"How?" Ron asked.

Draco glared. "It's magic!"

He turned to Harry again, who seemed to be the only one worth talking to. "The book is opened by a necklace, the necklace I gave Hermione. It's an M with a snake circling around it. Another Malfoy accessory. The lock has exactly that shape, so when Hermione saw it, she must've put the necklace inside the lock, and the book opened, and then sucked her in."

"Hold on," Harry said, thinking. "If the book suddenly sucked her in, then how is anyone to read it? It doesn't make sense,"

"Yes it does," Draco explained. "First the book opens to the index page, listing all the Malfoy names and their pages. So let's say you wanted to look up my father's memories in page a thousand and five. What would you do?"

"Turn to page a thousand and five," Ron answered instantly.

Draco shook his head. "If you're a Malfoy, you know that is not the way to do it. You have to talk to the book. You would say 'Show me page a thousand and five'" he paused. "It's to keep intruders away. Hermione, of course, knew nothing about it, so she must have turned the pages, and the book sucked her right in,"

"Why would Hermione want to read anything about the Malfoys?" Ron demanded. 

Harry stood silent for a minute, looking thoughtfull, and then he muttered, as if to himself, "Because Draco's name was on the list,"

"What?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," Harry said quickly. He looked at Draco. "Fine, how do we get to her?"

"By me," Draco answered proudly. "I know the way. There's a problem, though. Only the person wearing the necklace may get inside,"

"Obviously," Ron said, trying to act like he knew everything.

Draco glared. "And where's the necklace, Weasley?"

Ron's smiled faded. "Hermione took it with her,"

"Exactly!"

"There has to be another one," Harry said quietly.

Both Ron and Draco turned to him. "What?"

"Think about it," Harry went on. "If an intruder got hold of the necklace and got sucked inside the book, then how was anyone else going to open the book? There _must_ be another necklace. It wouldn't make sense if there wasn't. Maybe your father has one somewhere,"

"Yes, most likely," Draco drawled.

"So you know the way?" Harry asked.

"Yes,"

"What are we waiting for then?"

***

"I still _cannot _believe I teamed up with Malfoy," Ron said once again.

They were flying over some fields, each on their own broomstick. The moon was right ahead, the stars twinkled, there were no clouds in the air.

It was a beautiful night.

Except for the fact that it was very cold, specially when the cold air blew in your face.

"I would have never teamed up with someone such as yourself, Weasley," Draco informed him. He was flying in front of both Harry and Ron, leading the way. "But I might remind you that it's your friend we're talking about!"

"Yeah, Ron, stop complaining," Harry said. "We've got to get Hermione back, that's all that matters!"

Ron had to quiet then. Not only because Harry was serious, but because Draco was starting to descent into what seemed to be an enormous garden. Tall, thick walls protected it. There were shrubs in various shapes and sizes. It looked spooky in the moonlight. As if the shrubs were alive and protecting the enormous mansion behind. 

Harry had heard Draco had a mansion, but he hadn't imagined _this_. 

It had three floors, and at least a thousand windows. As Draco went down, he looked like nothing but a dot compared to the manor. 

Down, down he went. 

Harry started to do the same, and Ron followed. 

"Stop," Draco told them. "There are many traps here. Don't come down until I tell you," 

Draco stopped just a few inches from the ground, and levitated there for a while, looking around.

Then he gently pricked the grass, and quickly flew up as a thousand spikes shot up at him. 

"See what I mean? " he asked once he was level with Harry and Ron.

They nodded.

Draco looked down again, and saw that the spikes were going back into place, inside the ground. 

He looked at Harry. "We have to be careful,"

Harry nodded solemnly.

Ron looked blank. "So, um…" he gulped. "Do you know how to take care of those… spikes?"

Draco tried to remember what his father had told him once, a long time ago. 

"Remember, Draco," his voice echoed in his head. "When the traps go off, say who you are…"

Was that what he told him? But there was more… he knew there was! There just had to be!

"…say your name in front of the biggest gargoyle, only your voice will be recognized…"

That was it! Once again, he looked down, and scanned the garden. Past the hedges, there were some stone gargoyles hiding in the shadows, as if not wanting to be seen.

"Ok, I know what to do," Draco told Harry. "It's quite simple, actually,"

Then he flew down at great speed, and stopped only a few inches from the ground. Then he raced towards the Gargoyle, keeping his eyes fixed on it, feeling the urgency of the situation…

He stopped short, just a few inches from the Gargoyle's ugly face. "I'm Draco Malfoy,"

The Gargoyle suddenly bowed its head, and a few snapping sounds could be heard all around the garden, as if trapdoors were being closed, and magical devices being blocked. 

The Gargoyle went back to its normal position, and Draco took that as a sign of accomplishment.

He looked up at the night, where Harry and Ron were still floating.

He gestured for them to come down, and that's just what they did.

They were safe now. Draco urged his broomstick to go faster as he flew towards the entrance. 

He stopped before the marble staircases that led up to the door, got off his broom, and quickly ran up.

Now he stood in front of a great oak door with snakes carved on it. The knocker was twisted into the shape of a snake curling into a circle**.**

He waited for Harry and Ron to catch up. The sky had darkened, and a light drizzle was coming down. 

Harry and Ron were now running up the stairs. Harry got there first, and Ron finally catched up to them, breathless. 

Harry examined the enormous door. "It doesn't have a keyhole," 

Draco showed no trace of emotion. He simply put his hand on the door, and pushed it open slowly.

"It was open the whole time?" Ron was amazed.

"_No_, Weasley!" Draco was _very_ irritated at this point. He had had to explain a lot of things to Ron, and he was getting tired of it. Not even Harry was asking much, and _he_ had only been six years in the wizardly world! "Only a _Malfoy_ can open it. If you don't have Malfoy blood, then you can't push it open!"

"Oh," Ron said under his glare. "Right… I knew that…"

Harry didn't say anything. He was busy looking around the room they were standing in. 

It had a long green velvet rug running from the entrance and up the marble staircases in front of them, and possibly in all the corridors of the house. 

The room was made all out of marble, including all the huge marble statues looking down at them. At the walls hung some tapestries in which moving scenes were taking place. Hanging from the ceiling was an enormous candelabra, with millions of candles that never seemed to waste lighting it up.

Ron shivered. It was cold inside, maybe even colder than out in the rain.

"So," Harry said, looking around at all the doors. "Where to now?"

Draco started climbing the staircases. "To my father's office,"

Ron and Harry started following him.

Draco suddenly turned around, and looked at them seriously. "Remember," he said. "Not a sound. Hopefully my father won't find out we're here… but he always knows when someone enters the manor. Always."

Ron gulped, and hurried closer to his enemy.

Draco moved swiftly, without making a sound. Ron was clumsier, though, and occasionally bumped into an armour, or into a statue. Then Draco would hiss at him to stop making noise, and Ron would get angry, so a fight would start. 

Good thing Harry was there to solve the matter. He didn't like Draco at all, of course, but he had to admit that, if they wanted to get to Hermione, they had to stick together.

He also had to admit that Draco's manor was a bit spooky. The only light in the corridors were those provided by torches hanging on the walls, making their shadows stretch all the way down the halls. The corridors were lined with doors with silver handles, all of them twisted into the shape of a snake. 

The portraits weren't all that friendly, either. They were all portraits of elegantly dressed people. Malfoys.

As the three boys passed by, the Malfoys peered down at them, occasionally raising an eyebrown, coughing, or whispering about these two strangers. 

Not very friendly at all.

Finally Draco stopped before a big door. He turned the silver handle and stepped inside the room. 

Inside was yet another impressive room. The walls were lined with shelves containing books, hourglasses, parchments, some potions, skulls, and… a necklace?

Draco ran over to where it was located. 

He got the necklace and held it up to the window, where it glistened in the moonlight. 

"Hermione…" Ron groaned. 

Draco whirled around and found Ron looking at a book resting on his father's desk. 

_The_ book.

"Yes!" Ron exclaimed. "We found it!"

Nobody bothered to tell him to quiet, because both Harry and Draco were deep in thought.

"Easy," Harry said.

"Too easy," Draco agreed. 

"A trap, do you think?" Harry turned to Draco.

"Defenetly," Draco said as he put the necklace around his neck. "But there's no time to think about it," he came closer to the book.

Then he turned to Harry. "Keep watch. Make sure my father doesn't come. If he does, I give you permission to hex him,"

"We'd do it without your permission," Ron informed him.

"Wouldn't it be easier to get the book and hide somewhere safe?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head. "There aren't safe places in this manor. There are curses around every bend, every corner. The reason you weren't hexed on the way here is because you were with me. Stay here, and I'll try to get back with Hermione as soon as I can,"

Having said this, he put the M in the lock of the book, where it fitted perfectly. The book opened to the index pageimmediately.

Draco took a deep breath. His name was at the bottom of the list, as he was the last Malfoy. 

"Page a thousand two hundred and twenty three," he muttered. "I'll go to the last pages, so I can meet Hermione there," 

Then he bravely held out his hand and turned to the pages until he was where he wanted. And then, suddenly, he was coming closer and closer to the book, until he entered it.

***

Meanwhile, Hermione was having a hard time, too. 

As soon as the book had her trapped within its pages, she started to panic. 

Why?

Because she seemed to fall into a house. A very big house. She was in front of some big staircases, with a green velvet rug running along it. The room was full of tapestries and statures. Everything seemed silent and cold.

She didn't know where she was, of course, or what had happened. All she knew was that this was _strange_.

Then she saw a boy coming closer.

A small boy, possibly seven years old. He was a pale boy with a pointed face and white-blond hair. 

It reminded her of someone…

"Draco?" she managed to whisper. 

The boy payed to attention to her whatsoever. It seemed as if he couldn't even _see_ her. 

The boy stood at the bottom of the staircases, looking up with determined gray eyes.

"Draco…" she held out her arm, with the intention of putting her hand on his shoulder. But that wasn't what happened. Her hand went _through_ his shoulder.

Her heart started beating wildly. What was this? Where was she? Who was this boy? She was sure he was Draco! Was he a ghost? Or a… a memory?

Harry had told her about being in Tom Riddle's diary. No one seemed to notice he was there. So maybe, this was a memory, too. 

Seven-year-old Draco started climbing the stairs. 

Hermione followed.

They walked along what seemed to be hundreds of corridors in utter silence, until Draco stopped before a door. He seemed to hesitate before he knocked. 

"Come in," a voice she recognized as Lucius' called out.

Draco opened the door, and Hermione slipped inside. 

Lucius- a younger Lucius- was sitting behind a big desk. 

Hermione looked around. The room was lined with shelves containing books, parchments, and other things. 

"Come closer," Lucius said.

Hermione turned to him, and saw this little Draco walk closer to his father's desk. 

"Now, Draco," Lucius started in a very serious tone of voice. "Do you remember we're having a death eater party tonight?"

"Yes, father," Draco's voice was high-pitched, not the grave one he had now. 

"And do you know what that means?"

The young boy sighed. "Yes, father. Stay in the room with all the guests until everyone is gone,"

Hermione noticed he wasn't drawling. He wasn't talking in a bored tone of voice. Instead, he seemed to have some kind of feeling towards 'tonight'.

"Wrong!" Lucius yelled. "Stay in the room until I tell you to leave! Is that clear?"

Draco, instead of staying calm, as he would have done in the present, took a step back. "Yes father," he said with pure innocence in his eyes. "I'll leave when you tell me to,"

"Now get out and get ready," Lucius said coldly.

Draco nodded and obediently got out of the room. 

"See you tonight, daddy," he said softly as he closed the door. 

Hermione followed the boy sadly. 

Draco seemed so innocent, so tender… not the Draco she knew. 

He now seemed unreachable and cold. But, somehow, she had been able to see through the mask, and she had seen the little boy he still had inside. 

Draco walked along some more corridors, and then opened a white door. "Mommy?" he asked softly as he peeked in.

Hermione peeked in with him.

Narcissa Malfoy was looking at herself in the mirror of her wardrove. "Yes, Draco?" she said in a somewhat bored tone. 

"Daddy said I have to get ready for tonight," Draco said. He bit his bottom lip. "Could I come in, please?"

Narcissa shrugged. "If you must,"

Draco stepped into the room shyly, and drew closer to his mother. 

She was wearing a black dress with silver trimmings all around it. 

"You like nice in that dress, mommy,"

"Thank you, son. Now, your clothes are on your bed, so why don't you run along and try them on?" she asked. She seemed to want to get rid of him as soon as possible. 

"Ok. I'll see you at the party then," Draco said sadly, and left. 

Hermione started to follow him, but suddenly the walls started to twist, and everything went blurry and started to mix together in a black swirl.

Then, suddenly, she was standing in a big room filled with people in it. 

It looked like a party. 

Everyone was wearing fancy dresses and talking, not to mention drinking. 

And Draco was right in front of her. He was still a small seven-year-old boy, wearing a fancy suit, and looking around.

Suddenly his face lighted up. "Pansy!" he called, waving to and fro.

Hermione couldn't believe it.

Draco? Calling for _Pansy Parkinson_? It couldn't be true.

But it was. Pansy came over, looking her usual obnoxious self, only in a younger-and shorter- version of it. 

She looked kind of bored. "What?" she demanded. 

Draco, much to Hermione's surprise, seemed _happy_ to see her. "You want to do something?"

Pansy shrugged, and looked somewhere else. "Actually, I was just talking to Goyle, here…" she turned to go.

"No, don't!" Draco reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Please come with me. We could sneak around the house, like we did last year, remember?"

Pansy, though, didn't look interested. "My mom told me to never go around anyone's house again. She _punished_ me! I _never ever_ got punished before!" she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I still have the scars,"

Draco grinned mischievously. "I got punished, too,"

"And you think it's funny?" Pansy screeched**. **"Well, I don't think it is! I'm going to find Goyle…"

"But we used to be such good friends!" Draco complained, following her around the room.

Hermione went after them, not even bothering to dodge people, as she could simply go through them.

Pansy whirled around. "We were friends until _you_ messed it all up! I was punished, and I don't want to go through that again!"

"Could we just talk, then?" Draco pleaded. 

"No! Leave me alone!" Pansy said loudly, and ran away, leaving Draco behind.

Hermione stared at the small boy standing in the middle of a swirl of noisy people.

She wanted to hug him, to tell him it would be ok.

Then Draco turned around and started to walk away, towards the door. His head was down, but he didn't seem to be crying.

Had, Hermion wondered, Draco ever cried before?

He climbed the stairs once again, and then the walls started twisting again, and everything was blurry, mixing into a colorless swirl, and the scene changed. 

They were again in that room lined with shelves, and again Lucius was behind the desk, and Draco in front of him.

"Yes, daddy?"

"Draco, you left the party before I told you to," Lucius said gravely.

"I'm sorry. I was tired and sleepy, and…"

"I'll show you to be tired!" Lucius bellowed. "You disobeyed me!" he took out his wand, and pointed it at Draco.

But Hermione didn't want to watch. 

She didn't want to know what was going to happen next, because it was all just so cold and cruel.

Suddenly, without really knowing why or how she would do it, she started running towards the wall. 

And went through it.

She ran and ran, and everything went by faster, as if she were skipping a lot of memories.

When she finally stopped for breath, she was in a familiar scene. 

She was in front of the marble staircases, at Hogwarts!

That meant only one thing… by running, she had skipped a lot of memories. But this had happened recently… did that mean she was reaching the end of the book?

Draco was behind her memory-self. He got her by the wrist, whirled her around, and kissed her.

Hermione turned red. This was so familiar… why did she have to see it? It hurt her to see it! 

She looked to her right, hearing herself talking to Draco, telling him to let her to…

When she saw _another_ Draco.

He was standing at the door that led to Hogwarts grounds, staring at her.

She looked to her left. There was Draco, trying to explain something to her… and there, at her right, was another Draco.

"Hermione," this last Draco said, coming closer. "Is it you? Is it really you?"

Hermione stepped back. "Are you real?" she whispered. "Are you a memory?"

Draco held out his hand. "Touch,"

Hermione hesitated at first, but then brought her hand to his.

It was solid. He was real.

But how?

"What are you doing in here?" she asked, forgetting all the anger that was locked up inside her...  forgetting how much he had hurt her. "Are we both inside this book? _How_?"

"No time," Draco said. "We have to get out of here,"

"How?" Hermione asked again. 

"Look, this is a memory book that holds my most intense memories," Draco tried to explain quickly.

"Yes, I figured," 

"Well, we must be getting closer to the end of my memories, and, for that, to the end of the book, as I'm the last Malfoy,"

Hermione didn't get where he was going. "And?"

"Since the book ends here, we'll probably get out of it,"

"But how?" she asked yet again.

"I don't know, we'll be pushed out, or something. We can't travel the book's pages if there aren't any left!"

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but just then the scenery around them started twisting, until everything mixed together in a swirl. 

Then everything went black.

"Draco?" Hermione whispered.

He felt his hand hold her own. "I'm here. Don't move, just hold on to me. We'll probably get out soon…"

And no soon had he spoken those words that Hermione felt herself being lifted off the invisible ground and hurtled into the nothing-ness. 

She couldn't see anything. She only knew that she was going faster and faster towards… _somewhere. _Far ahead, she could see a crack of light. And they were coming closer… closer… Hermione shut her eyes, as the light was blinding her.

Then she felt her feet reach solid ground again, and she opened her eyes.

They were in a room lined with shelves full of books and other things. Behind her was a big desk, on which rested a book… the Malfoy book.

And, in front of her was Lucius Malfoy, pointing his wand directly at Draco, with Harry and Ron by his side.

*****

SORRY for not updating sooner!! But, as always, I'm tied up with tests! Plus, my computer wouldn't let me acces the internet for a few days, so I really couldn't post this up! But, finally, I did!! Lol. Anywya, did you like it? Please review!!


	21. Chapter 21

AHHH!!! A THOUSAND APOLOGIES FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER!!! I've been awfully busy, and haven't had time to rest, but finally, _finally_ school is over, and I'm ready to write! Lol. And, as far as I know, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is coming out SOON! I can't wait! Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and I hope you like it, even if I'm not too satisfied with it…

And 915 reviews!!! *screams* thanks to Vixie Pixie, Jennifre, Ezmeralda, Chocolat Elf, Crystalline Lily, Kate, FiliaTheRyuuzoku, Silver Fawkes, Merye, Sb1, Meg, Egyptian Queen, Alix, ***, *~*. Two insane chixs, a reader, scarlett, Nikki, DracoMalfoy, SVZ, Rage, Lilmichie, BellethePhilosopher'sCookie, LittleShyGirl, Thara, Ellie, hyper_shark, sheeennna, FairyFloss, fb90, Aindel, CindyLea, HeatherMalfoy, Angel125, cookie, Britney, Starry Skies, willowwiccantara, Frodo_Potter, Tiya Granger, Badmidnight, oceanguardian, Sunny, **, TriGemini, flutterflyqt1, DH4eva!!, DMLvrMudbldHtr, Luna, Sierradogbaby,Zeriae, Draco-Malfoy-Vegeta-luvr, Strawberry icing, totallystellar, TKDgrl, Wrenbirdy, Amethyst D, Tapaidh Sidh, Seom, Fire Phoenix, Shivohsongbreeze, storyteller, glisttergirl, Pamela, dexter, Cute Kitty, aleniaoceanstar, NITA_88_, You don't want to know, and Nihongo for reviewing!! I love ya!!

******

Hermione looked at the three persons standing in front of her through blank eyes.

"My, my, Draco," Lucius said in an unpleasant tone of voice. "We've been waiting,"

"It's a trap!" Ron yelled.

Hermione fixed her eyes on him, and noticed he was under some kind of spell. His arms were tightly pressed against his body, and his legs were together. And he seemed to have some difficulty opening his mouth. It was as if his jaws had been glued together, too.

Harry was in the same circumstances.

Lucius smirked, making Hermione remember how Draco used to do that when they had first met. "Don't be a fool, now, boy," he said, still pointing his wand at Draco. He nodded towards Hermione. "Come back to your senses and leave the girl so we can do this faster,"

"Never," Draco said, looking at his father with a fire in his eyes Hermione had never seen before. 

"NOW!" Lucius bellowed. 

"I'd rather be dead than follow your orders!" Draco yelled back.

Hermione was actually more frightened than she had been inside the Malfoy book. Seeing Draco like this… so angry… was scary, specially if the person he was angry with was his father. 

Draco slipped his hand into his pocket and got his wand out.

Lucius chuckled. "Oh? A wand? Do you want to duel, my boy? Then we _shall_ duel!"

Draco raised his wand, but Lucius was quicker. "_Crucio_!" 

Draco threw himself on the floor and managed to dodge the curse just in time. 

Lucius was about to send another curse at his son, taking advantage of his position, but Hermione was ready. 

"_Impedimenta_!" she yelled, with her wand pointed at Lucius. 

Lucius froze, with his hand holding his wand, and his arm outstretched.

Hermione ran over to Harry and Ron. 

"Hurry," Draco said, coming to her side. "The Impediment Jinx isn't permanent. Move aside," he pointed his wand at Harry and Ron.

Ron opened his eyes wide and started moaning frantically.

"I'm only going to undo the jinx!" Draco said desperately. He set Harry free first, and then passed on to Ron.

"Thanks," Harry said.

"No time, let's go!" Hermione said, glancing over at Lucius, who was already moving his legs frantically. 

"Follow me!" Draco said, and started running out the door. 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran after him, not knowing where they were going, but all, even Ron, trusting Draco. They passed silent corridors and lonely staricases, occasionally stopping for a few seconds so Draco could make sure it was safe to go on, until they came to a door.

Draco put the palm of his hand on it, and pushed it open.

Inside was a big bed, with black velvet covers with snake patterns on it. Next to it was a big wardrobe, and a desk that looked cold and lonely.  The ceiling was very high above their heads, and from it hung an enormous candelabra. There were tapestries covering all the walls except for one, which was all made out of glass, overlooking the forest. There seemed to be an enchanting air to this room, something Hermione couldn't really put her finger on.****

"Wow," Hermione breathed. "Where are we?"

"My bedroom," Draco answered briefly, and then hurried over to the wall oposite his bed, and moved one of the tapestries aside to reveal a small, wooden door. 

He put the palm of his hand on it, and pushed it open. "Get in," he told the three Gryffindors. 

"What is it?" Ron asked uncertainly. 

"A secret passage I used when I was little to get out of the house," Draco explained in an irritated voice. "Now hurry up! We'll be safe in here!"

Hermione and Harry stepped inside, lowering their heads, but Ron hesitated.

"Weasley, get inside! Do you want my father to find us?" Draco hissed. 

"But…but…" Ron stuttered. "What if it's a trap?"

"It's not!" Draco yelled. He got Ron by the arm in complete desesperation, pushed him inside, and stepped in himself, closing the door behind them.

Now they were in utter darkness.

"_Lumos_!" said four voices at the same time, and light blossomed from each of their wands. 

Now they could see each other's faces.

Draco's looked specially solemn. 

"Won't your father know we're here?" Harry asked. 

Draco shook his head. "No one knows this passage exists, except for me. It's the only part of this mansion that is untraceable. Besides, only _I_ can open it, so it's quite safe,"

"And you say it leads outside?" Harry asked. 

"Yes. To the front yard,"

"Let's go, then!" Ron exclaimed, who was desperate to get out.

Draco stepped forward. "Right. Follow me,"

So, lowering their heads, and lighting their way, they followed Draco through the cold, dark tunnel. It was very damp, and a shiver ran down Hermione's back. She didn't like this place. Didn't like it at all, no matter how safe it might be. 

Soon Ron started talking to Harry about quidditch. 

"What are you doing, talking about quidditch at a time like this?" Hermione asked, unable to believe Ron could be talking so happily.

"I'm trying not to think we're here, and the best way I can is by talking about quidditch," Ron admitted. "Just pretend we're in a nice path full of flowers having a nice conversation about my favorite sport, ok?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. Ron would never change. She was sure that, no matter how much in trouble they were in, Ron would always be his same old self.

Suddenly the tunnel started to get steeper, and they didn't have to lower their heads any longer.

Hermione looked at Draco, who hadn't said a word since they had started walking. She wanted to talk to him, wanted to say something cheerful. He seemed to cold and distant again… and she wanted him to be the Draco she had known these last few days. 

So she took a deep breath and fell into step with him. Draco glanced sideways at her, but didn't say anything.

"I, um…" how could she talk to him? How could she _face_ him? She hadn't talked to him since that unexpected kiss. How could she even look his way? Fortunally, though, she found it was very easy, because there was an expecting silence around them, as if they both wanted to say something to each other. As if they both had been waiting for a moment like this.

"Thank you," she said simply.

"Don't mention it," Draco muttered. 

Hermione looked at him uneasily. "Draco, I… I'm sorry,"

"For what?" he asked. Why was Hermione apologicing? She had done nothing! 

"For dragging you all into this. If it wasn't for me, you would all be safe at Hogwarts. And… I'm sorry for not speaking to you after… you know,"

Now it was Draco who looked uneasy. "No, actually, I should be the one sorry for-"

"Are we there yet?" Ron whined. 

Draco turned to him, annoyed. "Have we stopped walking?" he asked slowly.

Ron blinked. "No,"

"Then we're not!" Draco yelled. 

"Oh… right… I knew that…" Ron mumbled, and went back to Harry.

Silence fell upon Draco and Hermione, leaving them to feel very uncomfortable. 

"So, er… this tunnel, no one knows about it?" she asked, trying to engage him in conversation. 

"Except for us, no," Draco answered. 

"How did you find out about it?"

He was silent for a moment, as if wondering if he should speak. "Well, since I was very young I've been reading the Malfoy Book. It always interested me, so I read a bit of it every day, because I wanted to know about the Malfoys. So one day I read the memories of Aldous Malfoy, and I found out he was a lot like me…" he hesitated for a moment, but, as he was talking to _Hermione_, he decided to go on. "He wasn't like the rest of his family, he didn't think like them… he didn't really want to do what was expected of him. He wanted to follow his own goals. That's why he moved out of his house as soon as possible and came here,"

"He built this house?" Hermione asked. 

"Yes. And the Malfoys have lived here for generations. My bedroom used to be his own. He liked big windows," 

"Then it's no wonder he had a whole wall made out of glass,"

"Anyway, in the book he mentioned a secret tunnel he built for himself. He said that only Malfoys with…" he stopped.

"With what?" Hermione wanted to know.

Draco was kind of embarrased to say it, but he finally did. "He said that only Malfoys with pure, kind hearts would be able to find it and use it,"

Hermione smiled, because she had always known he had a kind heart. She looked at Draco, and saw that he looked rather uncomfortable and embarrased. She was touched, because, even if it had been hard for him, he had told her such a precious information.

She was so touched that she couldn't help smiling heartily at him. "You know, I already knew you had a kind heart," she said softly.

Draco looked at her, surprised. 

"I just knew you couldn't be as bad as you looked," she went on. "I knew it was all a mask. It _had _to be. It just couldn't be you." She looked down at her feet. "I'm glad I met the real you,"

Now it was Draco who was touched. No one had ever said something like this to him. No one. It was new to him… and strange. 

He was about to reply when Ron yelled outloud. 

Draco turned sharply around and found the red-headed boy is a state of fright. His face was pale and his eyes were almost bulging out, staring above their heads, at the low ceiling. Draco looked up and saw-

"A spider?" he asked blankly.

"I'ts a _big_ spider!" Ron complained. "Big-big s-spider!"

Draco shook his head in a pitying way. 

"Ron, get a grip on yourself," Harry said, tugging his friend's sleeve. "Let's keep on walking…"

"No! What if it f-falls of me?" Ron stuttered.

"It _won't_, Ron!" Hermione tried to help. "See? It's just innocently standing on the ceiling, doing no harm to anyone. We really must get going, so…"

Draco pointed his wand at the spider. "I'll just kill it and get it over with,"

"Don't!" Hermione cried. 

"Ron, we're loosing time! Come _on_," Harry exclaimed, and pushed a frantic Ron down the tunnel.

Draco and Hermione caught up to them, and the group started moving again.

Soon they reached a dead end. 

Ron went into hysterics once more. "A dead end! I knew it! It was all a trap! I should've never stepped into this house! Now Lucius will come to finish us off and-"

Draco sighed, put the palm of his hand on the wall, and pushed it open, revealing the dewy grass and the night sky.

Ron's mood changed dramatically. "We're free!" he yelled. "Oh, yes, we're free! Let's get out of here!" he ran over to the exit, but Draco stopped him by blocking him with his arm.

"Do you want to die at the age of sixteen?" he asked.

Ron shook his head.

 "Then don't step outside. Look," he tore a piece of his sleeve off, and threw it on the grass. A thousand spikes inmediately shot into the night with a noise similar to a whip striking the air.

Draco let his arm drop. "Go ahead,"

"No thanks," Ron said nervously.

"I thought so. Now, Potter," Draco turned to Harry. "Get your broom,"

Harry nodded, and was soon at work. He got his wand out and pointed it at where he thought the entrance to the manor might be, because that's where he had left his broom. 

"_Accio firebolt_!" 

They listened, and soon a zooming sound started getting louder, until Harry's firebolt appeared, flew straigh into the tunnel, and floated alongside them.

"I'll get Weasley's and mine," Draco said, and pointed his wand in the way Harry had pointed his. "_Accio broomsticks_!" 

Soon the three broomsticks stood floating together, ready to fly back to Hogwarts.

Harry and Ron mounted their broomsticks, but Draco stayed where he was.

"Hermione, you mount mine," he said.

"What? What about you?" she asked.

"I'm not going,"

"_What_?"

"You heard me," was Draco's solemn answer. "I am not going. I have to face my father, and make sure he does no more harm," 

"No, you can't!" Hermione said desperately. "I won't go without you!"

"You _will_, Hermione! Go!" Draco was angry. Or, at least, he wanted to _seem_ angry so that he could scare Hermione in order for her to leave. He didn't want her to be in danger.

"No, no, no!" she retorted back, feeling the tears behind her eyes. How could she just leave him here? She couldn't! There had to be a way for him to understand that he _needed_ to come back to Hogwarts. "Your father is too dangerous!" she tried to keep her voice steady. 

"Hermione, GET ON THAT BROOM!" Draco yelled. His piercingeyes stabbedher own, and she knew he was serious.

She took a step backwards and looked from the broomstick to Draco.

"I'll be fine," Draco assured her. "And I'll return to Hogwarts. I promise."

Hermione nodded, because she knew Draco always kept his promises. 

And so, with a last glance at her, he went back the way they came from. They looked after him until he turned a corner, and disappeared. 

"Pity," Ron said. "I was starting to like him," he shrugged. "Oh well, let's get going!"

Harry shook his head, and looked at Hermione. "You're not going to leave him, are you?"

"Of course not," she replied solemnly, clutching the necklace Draco had given her, as if she were trying to help Draco by doing so. 

"In that case, I better stay with you," Harry said, getting off his firebolt.

Ron stared at them both as if they had gone mad. "What's wrong with you two? Let's go! We're _free_!" 

"Quiet, Ron!" Hermione cried. "Go if you want, but I'm staying here!"

Harry stood by her side.

Ron groaned, and got off his broomstick. "_Why_?"

"Gryffindors have to be loyal and brave," Hermione answered. "And they always stick together. A team never leaves one of their members behind,"

Now Ron looked at her as if she really _had_ gone mad. "_What_ team, Hermione? Since when have we teamed up with Malfoy?"

"We were a team tonight!" she exclaimed. "We worked together! We spent time together! Draco _helped_ us! If it wasn't for him, I'd still be stuck in that dreadfulbook!"  

Ron looked taken aback. "Ok, geez, you don't have to get so worked up…"

Hermione sighed, and turned to Harry. "How do we do this?"

Harry shook his head slowly, and looked into the dark tunnel. "There's no time for plans. We just follow the tunnel, and do what pops into our minds the minute we see Malfoy is in danger,"

"Ok, sounds good enough," Hermione said briefly, before walking into the darkness. 

"_Lumos_," Harry said, and the three friends started on their way back, using their wands as flashlights, one regretting, one determined, and the other glad he could help Hermione.

They walked silently, without talking, all thinking about what awaited them: danger.

At last they reached the end of the tunnel, and saw light coming through the small cracks on the door. 

Hermione tried to push it open, but it was no use. "Oh no," she moaned. "We need Malfoy blood to do this…"

"What?" Ron yelled. "Are you telling me we walked all the way back for _nothing_?"

Hermione was quite over herself. She wanted to get to Draco, and she would do it any way possible… a door wouldn't stop her! She would send all the hexes she knew at it until it budged! She had to get to Draco!

"Hermione, look," Harry suddenly said, pointing to a place under the handle. 

Hermione looked and saw, to her surprise and relief, that there was an M identical to the one she had on her necklace carved into the wood, as if inviting her to put her necklace in it. 

"Yes," she said softly, smiling in the light of the three wands. 

She got the necklace from her neck, and put it inside the carved wood.

It fitted perfectly.

As soon as it was in, a light green light issued from this queer "keyhole". It got brighter and brighter, filling the whole tunnel. The three friends shielded their eyes until the light got **fainter **and fainter, until it disappeared, and the door opened. Hermione dropped the necklace on the damp floor, and looked out.

All view was blocked by a tapestry.

Hermione could hear yells from the other side of it, so she quickly moved it aside. 

There was Draco, on the floor, twitching with pain under his father's cruciatus curse.

She gasped, bit her bottom lip, and drew her face away, back to the tunnel. Her eyes were shut tightly, and a tear ran down her cheek.

"Hermione…" Harry said.

She just covered her face with her hands, trying not to make any sound. 

Harry put his hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, what-"

He didn't have time to ask, because Hermione suddenly sprang to her feet, moved the tapestry aside, and jumped into the duelling scene. "Leave Draco alone!" she yelled, with her wand pointing directly at Lucius.

"Don't," Draco managed to say before yelling in pain.

Lucius chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous," he said, in a rather bored tone of voice. He pointed his wand at her.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled. 

He had been watching everything from behind the tapestry, but this attack on his friend made him come to the rescue.

Draco struggled to his feet, being no longer under the curse, and got his wand.

Lucius sighed. "_Expelliarmus_!" he yelled.

Three wands shot from their owner's hands into Lucius'.

Lucius smirked. "Now what? You're helpless. You're all helpless!" and, saying that, he laughed outloud. 

It was a sickening laugh, and, when he looked back at the three persons in front of him, Hermione saw that there was a mad glint in his eyes.

"Now, be reasonable, and walk in front of me," Lucius said, pointing, with the four wands, towards the door.

Hermione looked at Draco.

He cast a resentful look at his father before bowing his head, and going out the door. Hermione thought that gesture meant Draco had given up the fight, but, in truth, Draco was trying to think of a way to get them out of the situation they were about to enter.

***

"I _cannot_," Hermione said, as the wind played with her hair. "Believe this,"

"Neither can I," Harry said, looking up at the night sky. The rain had passed, and the wind had blown away all the clouds, leaving a beautiful star covered sky to look at. "I always imagined that, if we were to be captured, we'd be sent to the dungeons," he looked around him. "But _this_!"

"Stop talking and start thinking up a plan, Potter!" Draco snapped. He was lying on his back, with his hands under his head, and staring up at the sky, as if calling to the stars for help.                         

Hermione looked around her, and sighed. They were anywhere _but_ in the dungeons. In fact, they were at the very roof of the Malfoy Manor. Lucius had brought them here by a little trap door that opened to the black roof. Then he had conjured up a type of green floor that was barely big enough for the three to lie down. Hermione wasn't sure what the floor was made of… but it looked a lot like light. Lucius had then thrown them on it, and walked back into the house. 

They had, of course, tried to go back, but they soon found out that there were some kind of invisible walls that went all around the green floor. Surprisingly, these walls let anything from the outside to enter… but let nothing from the inside to get out. Making an exception with the wind.

 They knew because the wind had carried in a few leaves, and they were still inside with them, struggling to get out.

In other words, they were trapped.

Hermione wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, and hugged her knees. "I wish we had our wands," she sighed.

"Wouldn't be of any use," Draco said. "I don't think any of us know how to break this spell,"

Hermione sighed louder than ever. "Now what?"

"Now we wait," Harry answered.

"Wait for what?" Hermione wanted to know.

"Wait for Ron to pluck up the courage to find us,"

*******

Yes, I am REALLY REALLY SORRY for taking a thousand light years to get this chapter up, but you don't know how busy I've been!!! Luckily, school's out (We were let out on two days ago), and I'm freeeee ^_^ lol. I don't really like how this chapter came out, but I figured I had to post it soon or I'd be killed. So I'm sorry if it's not really good, but I'll try my best on the next one! Please review!!                                                                          


	22. Chapter 22

Whoa, I'm surprised at how many people hate Ron!! Well, just to let you know, he's my favorite character! No, really, he is! (Then follows Draco, of course). Lol, that's why I made him save the day… because Ron rocks! *Laughs madly* 

Ok, um… sorry about that, got carried away…

And the reasons of this chapter taking so long were: 1) the fifth Harry Potter book on sale!! HOW COULD I MISS IT????? And, what did you think about it? I really liked it, but why did --------------- have to die??? (won't put the name here for those who still haven't read it). Argh… seriously, that made me want to walk up to Rowling and make her come back to her senses. I almost yelled out!! Arrrgh!! Why did ------------- die?? *sob* 

And *screams* 991 reviews!!! I can't believe it! Thank you to SVZ, Kate, CindyLea, Esperanza, DracoMalfoy, Aindel Druida, two insane chicks, sb1, willowwiccantara, Draco-Malfoy-Vegeta-luvr, fb90, Chocolat Elf, ***, Silver Fawkes, BellethePhilosopher'sCookie, Ellie, Winter Fae, LuvCr8zy4TomFelton, Starry Skies, Shivohsongbreeze, Bitch-with a sword, Pannygirl, Naoko Ten'ou, Tiya Granger, Scarlett, Crystalline Lily, Joanna, Thara, Queen Serendipity, Jayne Elizabeth, DarkGurly819, Babybeauty, Seom, Cherry, Oo.DrAcOzAnGeL.oO, Professor Smith, TriGemini, Mystik4L M3nt@LneZz, Crazee Coaky, tjs91989, squorpionlady, Zyzychyn, sierradogbaby, magicalferret, Amics Per Sempre, Metallicafangirl, dancing_kween, AnOtHeR.lOsEr.AnThEm, Classionista, OceanDancer, and DracosGirl4Life for reviewing!!!! I'm so happy ^_^

*****

"If we have to wait for that idiot to look for us," Draco said. "We could spend all our lives here,"

Harry glared at him, but Draco didn't seem to notice. Harry looked at Hermione, as if to seek some help, but she was absorbed in her own thoughts.

"But…" she was the one who broke the silence that followed. "How is he going to get to us?"

"_If_ he ever does," Draco corrected.

"I mean," Hermion went on. "He's not a Malfoy. And this place is full of traps. There is no way he can get up here,"

"Too true," Draco muttered.

"I just wish we could do something!" Harry said in exasperation, and punched an invisible wall.

"The only thing we can do is wait, so why get so frustrated?" Draco asked, still staring at the sky.

But how could he just wait?  He felt so helpless… he wanted to do something!

"Your father can't keep us here forever, can he?" Hermione aked. She was starting to feel nervous.

"Of course not," Draco drawled. "He's probably thinking up the best way to murder us, or something of the sort,"

He said it in such a calm, matter-of-fact way, Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Are you saying," she said, feeling, at this point, _very_ nervous. "That we're all sitting here quietly, waiting for our death?"

Draco shrugged as best as he could. "Yes, something like that,"

"AND YOU'RE LYING THERE SO CALMLY?" Hermione yelled.

"Hey, I'm trying to think," he said.

"Thinking is not enough!" Hermione exclaimed. "We have to get out of here!" she started punching the invisible wall desperately.

Draco sighed. "You're only going to waste your energy, Hermione,"

"I'm going to get out of here if it's the last thing I do!" she said stubbornly, punching harder.

She gave up eventually, though, because nothing happened. She looked at Harry.

He was staring at the ground, playing with a leaf, and apparently thinking. 

Then she looked at Draco, who was still looking at the night sky with an expression of utmost concentration.

Then, suddenly, Hermione's eyes filled with tears.

She turned away from them so that they wouldn't see.

Was this it? Was her life suddenly going to end like this? How could it? She was only sixteen years old! And she still hadn't got on with SPEW at all! And what about her NEWTs? How could she die without doing her NEWTs? That was insane! 

_If Lucius is going to kill me, as yound as I am, he should at least give me a chance to do my NEWTs_! She thought stubbornly.

"Maybe…" Draco said, making Harry and Hermione jump. "Maybe, if I touch this wall… the spell will vanish."

Hermione looked at him. "But you've already touched it, remember? When we tried to get out."

Draco shook his head. "Only with my shoes," he looked down at his pale hands. "But maybe, if I touched it with my hands… maybe the spell breaks when someone with Malfoy blood touches it…"

He extended his finger towards where he thought the wall might be, and touched it. 

A small, burning red circle suddenly sprouted around his finger, turning redder and redder.

"Agh!" he yelled, and quickly drew his finger back and put it against his other hand, trying to lessen the pain.

"What happened?" Hermione asked frantically. 

She looked at the spot on the wall again. The circle had turned a black, greyish color.

"Ashes?" Hermione gasped.

Indeed, they _were_ ashes, and they fell to the floor, but a there was a burnt, black outline around the place where the ashes had previously been.

Harry stuck his finger through the circle. "It's a hole." He looked at Draco. "You managed to open a circle,"

Draco was still clutching his finger.

Suddenly they heard footsteps approaching, and they all sat up quickly, listening intently.

Hermione's tears dried away, and her heart started beating faster. 

Nobody moved. Everyone was waiting… waiting…

The trapdoor, which led to the attic, opened, and some red hair poked out.

Hermione's heart lifted. Could it be? 

After the hair followed a long nose and some Hogwarts robes, and she knew they were saved.

"Ron!" she managed to gasp, too happy for words.

Ron looked at them and grinned. He started walking towards them.

"DON'T!!" they all shouted.

Ron stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" he asked, confused.

"Stop right there, Ron!" Harry said. "If you step on this green floor you'll get trapped inside with us!"

"Weasley," Draco said, looking intently at Ron's hand, and holding his own finger. "What's that you're holding?"

Ron let them see. "It's that weird necklace Hermione wears all the time. She dropped it back there in the tunnel and I, er… thought I'd bring it back,"

"Did you have any difficulties coming up here? Did any trap go off?" Draco went on.

Ron shook his head. "Nope. I don't think you really need Malfoy blood for this…" 

For a fleeting instant, Hermione thought she saw Draco's face lighten up. 

"Ok, Weasley, give me the necklace. Just throw it at me. It'll go right through this invisible wall," Draco said, speaking with some difficulty. His finger hurt very badly.

Ron threw the necklace at them, and Draco caught it with his spare hand. 

Then he looked at Harry, and handed him the necklace. 

"Listen here, Potter," Draco said. "I want you to throw the necklace with all your might into the opposite wall,"

"What for?" Harry asked suspiciously. He still didn't trust Draco much.

"It may be our only chance out of here," Draco said impatiently. "And throw it as hard as you can,"

Harry was still doubting about what to do, but, when he saw the look on Hermione's face, he knew Draco was telling the truth.

He leaned against one of the walls, raised his fist above his head… and threw the necklace as hard as he could into the the opposte wall.

As soon the brooch made contact with the wall, it glowed orange, and Hermione saw, just before the whole wall started to turn a burning red, that, in the place where the Snake's heart might have been, there was a tiny red substance. Then the necklace melted, and the wall turned into ashes.

As soon as the ashes fell, the three of them hurried off the green floor. 

Harry ran towards Rom and clapped him on the back. "Nice work, mate,"

"Now what?" Hermione asked as she walked to join them. 

Harry sighed. "I would suggest getting on our brooms and flying off, but as we don't have our wands…" 

"Who said?" Ron asked, getting four wands out of his pocket.

Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Ron! How could- how did-"

Ron shrugged as he passed the wands around. "I still had my own wand, didn't I? I couldn't just come and find you without making sure we'd all be armed."

Hermione opened her mouth again, but Ron spoke for her. 

"How did I get them?" he asked. "Well, after Lucius trapped you up here I followed him. _Cautiously_," he added as he saw Hermione's face. "He went back to his office and set the wands on the table. After a while he left, so I got them and went to look for you,"

"So then Lucius must have probably noticed the wands are gone by now! We better leave!" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry nodded, and pointed at the ground. "_Accio brooms_!"

Immediately the brooms flew over to them, and started floating alongside them. 

Ron and Harry mounted their brooms, but Draco stood back. 

"Maybe, if I stay here and face my father…"

"No!" Hermione yelled. "You are _not_! You _know_ he's too dangerous, and I will _not_ let you go! Now, you get on this broom and fly off to Hogwarts!" 

Draco was taken aback. He had never seen Hermione like this. It was a long time since she had yelled at him. In fact, he was getting amused.

"But, if I…"

Hermione grabbed his sleeve. "Draco, we are going to Hogwarts," she hissed. "_Together_,"

Draco tried to pull away, but she drew out her wand and pointed it at him. "I'll put you under the imperius if I have to," both her hand and her voice quivered. 

That made him chuckle. "Oh, but I know how to fight it off now!" there was a naughty glint in his eye.

Hermione blushed as she remembered why he had learned to fight it off, and released his sleeve. 

"Please don't go," she whispered. 

Draco glanced at her and saw that she wore a pained look.  

He groaned, but then got on the broom.

He wasn't altogether convinced, but he decided to leave, for Hermione's sake. 

_And for your own_, a small voice in his head said, but he didn't pay attention to it. 

"Come on, Hermione," Draco said.

With a last look at the melted brooch, she mounted Draco's broom, and they were off.

***

It was dawn when Draco landed softly on the castle grounds. 

He was grinning slightly, because Hermione had held on to his waist the whole journey as if her life depended on it. 

"I do _not_," she panted, once she was off the broom. "Like flying,"

She looked at Draco, who was watching her with an amused smile. There was laughter in his eyes. 

"Well, you were going too fast!" Hermione said quickly. "I had to grab on to _something_!"

Harry and Ron landed beside them, and shouldered their broomsticks.

"Let's go into the castle, shall we?" Ron said. "Before anyone notices we've been gone all night…"

"Oh _no_!" Hermione exclaimed. She started running towards the castle. "Hurry, before our lessons begin!"

"Hermione," Harry said. "It's two hours until breakfast,"

Ron yawned. "Yeah, 'mione, slow down,"

Hermione's pace dropped until she was walking normally again. She waited for the rest to catch up, and then fell into step with Draco. 

"Er…" she started. This was so strange… she felt as if they hadn't talked together for ages! She wondered if she could just start talking normally, or if he was angry… but he seemed to be in a good mood… "I was wondering," she finally said. "When we were trapped on the roof, and Harry threw the necklace to the wall… I saw a small red thing in the place where the snake's heart was supposed to be. And, as Ron was able to get to us safe and sound, I thought it might be…"

"…A drop of Malfoy Blood," Draco finished for her. "Yes,"

Hermione looked at the dewy grass. "And now the necklace is destroyed…"

_That_ explained why the necklace had opened the wall, and why Ron had found them without any trouble.

Draco shrugged. "At least we got out of that one,"

They walked onto the Entrance Hall.

Harry and Ron started going up the marble stairs.

Hermione and Draco stood side by side awkwardly.

"So, I guess I'll… see you around," Hermione said.

"Yeah. See you," Draco said and, with that, he turned to the dungeons, and was gone.

***

Hermione caught up with Harry and Ron just as they climbed through the portrait hole. Apparently Ron had had an argument with the fat lady, because when he entered he was flushed, and muttering something about "useless talking portraits" under his breath.

Hermione saw that Lavender was sitting on one of the best couches. As soon as she saw Ron, though, she jumped out of the couch and ran towards him.

"Oh, I've been _so_ worried!" she said as she threw her arms around him and kissed him, right on the lips.

Ron blushed until the point Hermione thought he might need a bucket of water to cool off.

"Lavender!" he gasped when she drew away from him.

"I think we better leave them alone," Hermione said quickly, and she dragged an amused Harry to his dormitory.

***

After breakfast Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco were called into Dumbledore's office. Apparently he had somehow found out of their absence at night.

"Tell me all about it," Dumbledore said once they were in his office. 

He sat back in his chair, put the tips of his long fingers together, and surveyed the group through his half-moon spectacles.

And so Harry started relating the story, while the portraits of the previous headmasters listened eagerly. 

Dumbledore turned let his gaze fall on Draco. "You organized this rescue mission, then, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco looked away uncomfortably. 

Dumbledore took this as a yes, and turned to Hermione instead. "You did well on stopping him from facing his father, Miss Granger. Mr. Malfoy has a good deal of courage, but he cannot face his father alone."

Draco clenched his teeth.

"Oh, and next time, Miss Granger, please don't play around with things that look suspicious," 

Hermione blushed and nodded, and Dumbledore winked.

He then turned to Harry and Ron. "You two have been very brave indeed, and have been helpful yet again. However," he looked at the three boys. "Next time someone is in trouble please contact me or one of the teachers. No detention this time. I will talk with Lucius shortly. You may go now,"

***

Hermione didn't see much of Draco that day. She wanted to talk to him. It had seemed as if they weren't angry with each other anymore… at least, _she_ wasn't angry with him… he had come to rescue her, after all!

Everyone seemed to be happy: Harry was acting normally, Lavender and Ron wouldn't leave each other's side, and everybody else was chatting away happily, as if no one saw that _she_, Hermione, was not alright!

The mere sight of Neville and Seamus talking at lunch was annoying! She even snapped at Harry when he asked her to pass the salad, and Neville jumped at the sound of her voice. 

After lessons she was so frustrated she decided to go into the library, to be alone. _That way, _she thought moodily as she walked between the shelves, in search of a good place to sit, _I won't snap at anyone, and we can all live in peace_.

So, when she was interrupted in the middle of her charms essay, she snapped. 

"Hermione,"

"_What_?" she said so loudly that several people turned their heads to see what was the trouble, and Madam Pince ushered her to be quiet.

"I see you're not in the mood," Draco said as he slid into the chair opposite her.

"Oh…" when she saw who was in front of her, all the frustration suddenly disappeared, leaving an oddly pleasant feeling. 

Actually, Draco was very brave to approach Hermione when she was in one of her moods, but… he had to talk to her.

"Listen," he said. "I want to talk to you."

Suddenly she felt anger rising up inside her. So now he wanted to talk? He'd been avoiding her the whole day, and _now_ he wanted to talk? 

The memories of the previous weeks sprang up in her mind, and her anger flared. 

_But he came to rescue you_, a small voice tried to reason with her. 

"Why now?" she asked, rather coldly.

"Because there's something I should have told you the moment I knew, and I want you to know before it's too late,"

Hermione noticed that his finger was back to normal. Madam Pomfrey must've taken care of it… 

She looked at him. He didn't seem to be lying, or to be making fun of her. 

In fact, he seemed rather serious. 

She sighed. "Fine. What is it?"

Draco shook his head. "Not here. Not now,"

"Then _when_?" she asked with a bit of frustration in her voice. 

"Can you meet me under the tree at midnight?"

"Midnight?" she echoed. "Are you trying to get me into trouble?"

Draco shook his head, and looked at her intently. "I want to make sure we're not heard. Please, Hermione,"

He was looking at her so strangely, and he had said _please_! 

She felt herself nodding. Her mouth was dry. "Under the 'Joggart Tree' then?"

Draco stood up. "Midnight," and he left.

***

Hermione sat up in bed and looked around.

Her roomates were all sleeping soundly. Everything was still and silent.

The coast was clear.

She stood up and walked towards her chair, where both her Hogwarts cloak and Harry's invisibility cloak were waiting. 

With her white nightgown, she looked like a ghost gliding in the dark. She put her Hogwarts cloak on, and made her way to the common room. 

A small fire crackled lazily as she crossed the room and climbed out of the portrait hole. 

She made sure the invisibility cloak completely covered her, and then set off towards the Entrance Hall. 

Once she almost tripped over Mrs. Norris, but other than that it was all fine. 

She stepped into the cool night. The stars were twinkling in the beautiful, clear night sky, and there was a half moon that looked as if it was smiling down at her. There was enough light to see the grounds, and she soon spotted Draco, who was leaning his back on the trunk of the tree they had always sat under when they worked on their Joggart project.

Hermione took a deep breath and, wrapping both cloaks tighter around herself, walked over to the tree.

"Draco," she whispered as she took the invisibility cloak off.

Draco looked at her, hands in his pockets. "Hermione," he said.

They stood there, looking at each other awkwardly in the dark. 

"So… what did you want to tell me?" Hermione finally asked. 

Draco sighed. There was a sort of pained look on his face. "Look, Hermione…" he seemed to be fighting with himself, as if a side of him wanted to say it, but the other wanted to remain silent. "I should've told you before, but I didn't think that…well… anyway, the thing is… when I tickled Bluey, it turned into you," 

After saying this, he looked determinedly away.

Hermione felt numb. Had she heard right? Had he just said what she thought? 

"Why did you kiss Pansy?" she demanded.

Draco clenched his teeth, and looked at the ground. "My father found out my… feeling for you, and so he put me under the imperius curse. When I kissed her, I was still under the curse. But… when I saw you, I suddenly felt an inner force and I… _broke_ the curse. So then I chased you and… you know the rest,"

"Is that true?" Hermione asked firmly, although her heart was softening. "Are you lying?"

"Of course not!" Draco exclaimed, still looking anywhere but at her. "Why would have I kissed you if I didn't love you? Look, you can put me under the imperius curse right now, and you'll see I can fight it!"

Hermione said nothing. 

She still couldn't believe this. It was just too great to be true…

_He came to save you, he's not lying_, a little voice whispered in her mind.

"Well, you can go back to the castle now. That's all I wanted to say," Draco said, and started to turn around.

The little voice got louder and louder, until it was deafening, and she wondered if anybody else could hear it.

"Wait!" she said as Draco started to walk away.

She had finally come to her senses. She realized now that he couldn't be lying, that he was telling the truth.

That he really _did_ love her.

Draco stopped, but didn't turn around.

"I…" how could she tell him? _Just do it!_ The voice urged her. "Bluey also t-turned into you," she said in a trembling voice.

A silence followed.

Draco slowly turned around, and met her eyes.

She smiled weakly. 

"Do you mean you…"

Hermione nodded. "I love you," she whispered. 

Draco smiled.

A beautiful smile that reached his eyes. 

He started walking closer, never leaving her eyes. "Once, I stole a kiss from you," he said, getting closer and closer. "And I was wondering if I could… give it back,"

She smiled, and her eyes said everything.

Their lips finally met.

***

That morning Hermione was happier than usual. A wide smile lit her face, and she hummed everywhere she went.

In fact, she seemed to fly.

At breakfast, Harry asked her what was the reason of her sudden change of mood, and Ron choked on his bacon when he heard her answer.

"Sorry, Ron, but Draco's part of the group now," she said, but she wasn't sorry at all. Actually, she was smiling widely while she said it.

Ron almost screamed. "I won't have Malfoy-"

"_Draco_," she corrected. 

"I won't be his friend! I won't! You can't make me! How could you just- hey! Hermione! Are you listening?"

But she wasn't. 

Because, across the Great Hall, grey eyes were set on brown.

                                                THE END

******

Wow, I can't believe I just wrote those two words! Believe me, it was HARD writing them, because, after working SO HARD on getting these two together, now the story's over! Oh well… I hope you liked it! What did you think of this last chapter? I hope it wasn't too cheesy back there, at midnight *wink* *wink* I tried not to put too much cheese in, 'cause I don't really like cheese all that much! Please review, because it'll be the last time you do on this story!! ^_^ 


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